Solatorobo X Super Robot Wars OG
by 9arm
Summary: Another SRW OG crossover I plan to write. This time, it's Super Robot Wars Original Generations crossed with Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. A must read for fans of both games. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

Prologue

_It has been two years since I saved Shepherd Republic with the help of my friends from being destroyed by Baion. I'm back to my usual lifestyle as a Hunter that is killing monsters, arresting pirates and searching for treasure. And guess what? Over the past two years, my relationship with Elh became more intimate. So, heheh... she's my girlfriend now..._

_ Things were normal until one day, Merveille, Kurvaz's Development Chief, contacted me, my sister, Chocolat and Elh. Apparently, Merveille discovered a method of travelling to other worlds. She designed an interdimensional transporter for the purpose of testing out that method. Also, she asked for me, Chocolat, Elh, Opera, Gren, Calua, Beluga and a group of Kurvaz soldiers to test out the transporter alongside Merveille herself. Merveille planned to have all of us travel in the Asmodeus and Golden Roar to another world. Little did we know, this would be our biggest adventure... _


	2. Chapter 1: An Extraordinary Job

"Whew, I'm beat!" said Red Savarin as he sat on a chair in the Asmodeus's cabin. "That job earlier was tough!"

"Well, at least you managed to complete it well, brother," said Red's sister, Chocolat Gelato who was sitting on one of the cabin's beds. "What's more, you managed to rake in a whole lot of money from that job!"

"Heh, what do you expect? When I'm on the job, I'll go all out to get the rewards!" replied Red.

"As long as you keep yourself safe that is," said Elh Melizee who was sitting next to Red.

Red, Chocolat and Elh were chatting with each other happily in the cabin of the Asmodeus. The Asmodeus was parked at Airedale's harbor. As always, Airedale was peaceful. In fact, the same could be said to the whole of Shepherd Republic. This is all thanks to the efforts of Red and his friends stopping Baion from destroying Shepherd Republic itself.

"You know just to change the subject, it really is fun having to chat together like this all the time," said Chocolat. "All this chatting makes me think that what we did two years ago was worth it,"

"You said it, sister. But, you know, something's bothering me ever since I saved Shepherd Republic,"

"What is that?" asked Elh.

"If only humans lived in this world alongside us Caninu and Felineko, wouldn't it be good? That way, Baion will be fully convinced that the humanity of the Old Earth was never a failure," Red then added with a sad look on his face, "The truth is, I actually can't help but feel sorry for those who lived in the Old Earth. If only, they could live better lives..."

"I understand how you feel, brother," Chocolat said with a sympathetic look on her face. Even Elh had the same look on her face upon hearing Red's words. "But, what matters is that we live on ahead without dwelling too much on the past, right?" Chocolat then added with her usual cheerful manner.

"Yeah, that's right," said Red with a smile. "Right, Elh?"

"Of course," Elh agreed to Red's words with a smile. "After all, you too are a human that is when you activate Trance,"

"That's true," replied Red.

"Oh, it's lunchtime already! I'm going to cook lunch for all of us. But, we've run out of some ingredients so I'll go buy them first,"

"Sounds good. Elh and I will wait for you here," said Red after hearing Chocolat's words. "You take care out there, sis," Red then added as Chocolat began to move to the door of the cabin.

"Sure, brother," said Chocolat. She then added while giving a wink, "And have a good lovey dovey time with Elh while I'm away!"

"Yeah, sure..." said Red as he blushed. Even Elh blushed upon hearing Chocolat's words. Soon, Chocolat was out of the cabin, leaving Red and Elh in there.

"This sure is the life. Talking to all my loved ones with no incoming threat to Shepherd Republic," said Red.

"I agree, Red," replied Elh with a smile. She then edged closer towards Red and added with a romantic face, "Especially when I'm with you,"

Red chuckled and then replied, "Of course," He then kissed Elh on the cheek. All of a sudden, a large beep was heard from the bridge of the Asmodeus.

"Oh, someone's calling us. Let's go see who it is," said Red as he walked to the Asmodeus's bridge.

"I suppose it's another client with a job for us," Elh suggested as she followed Red.

"Maybe," said Red as he and Elh arrived at the bridge. "If you're right, let's hope the job has a big reward for us to spend on our next date,"

"I would like that," replied Elh as Red pressed a button on the bridge's controls. Upon pressing it, a familiar face was shown in a screen on the controls themselves. It was Merveille Million, the Development chief of Kurvaz, whose face was in the screen.

"Hello, Red and Elh. It has been some time," Merveille greeted Red and Elh.

"Hey, Merveille! Yeah, it has been some time!" replied Red. "What's up? You got a job for us?"

"As a matter of fact I do. But, before I go into that topic, where's your sister?"

"Chocolat went out to buy ingredients for lunch," said Red. "And just to share with you, Elh and I had a bit of a lovey dovey time while she's away..." Red added with a slight hint of embarrassment in his voice. Elh held onto Red's arm lovingly upon hearing Red's words.

"I can see that," Merveille said while smiling.

"Anyway, what's this job you're giving us?" Red asked.

"It's an extraordinary job. In fact, you're not going to be the only Hunter taking it. Opera, Gren, Calua, Beluga and a select member of Kurvaz soldiers are taking this job as well. Also, I am accompanying them as well as you in performing the job itself,"

"Why would you be personally telling us about this job? You could have posted it in the Quest Broker," said Elh.

"It's a top secret job. If you do not mind, come to the Golden Roar's office when you're ready and I'll explain more about it to you,"

"This sounds like a real serious job," said Red with a serious look on his face. He then said with his usual good humor, "But, at the same time, it sounds fun. Count me in, Merveille!"

"I'm glad to hear that," replied Merveille with a smile. "Well, then, that would be it. I'll see you along with Chocolat and Elh later, Red,"

"Okay, Merveille. Later!"

"See you,"

With the conversation over, Red switched off the screen. "Top secret, eh?" said Red. "This really does sound serious,"

"I'm assuming it's a dangerous job. We should be careful once we take it," said Elh.

"You're right. Well, let's wait for Chocolat to come back. Then, we'll have lunch and depart for the Golden Roar as soon as we're done," said Red.

"Agreed," replied Elh.

(scene change)

"We're here, Red. It's really been some time since we came to the Golden Roar," said Chocolat who is piloting the Asmodeus.

"It sure is, sister," said Red. "I'm pretty eager to know what job Merveille has in store for us. It sounded as if that job would fetch a high reward,"

"And I suppose you're going to use that reward for for you and Elh's next date?" asked Chocolat.

"You guessed it! Right, Elh?"

Elh giggled and replied, "Yes, Red," She then gave him a peck on the cheek.

Upon reaching the Golden Roar, the Asmodeus was parked at the Golden Roar's deck. Red, Chocolat and Elh went out of the Asmodeus and headed for the Golden Roar's office. As the three entered into the ship, two members of the Kurvaz greeted them.

"Greetings, Mister Red," said one of them. "It's good to have you here. We have all gathered in the office,"

"You mean those who are gonna take the job given by Merveille?" asked Red.

"Exactly. Come, let us go to the office," said the other Kurvaz member.

Red, Elh, Chocolat and the two Kurvaz members walked to the Golden Roar's office. As they reached there, Red could see the people whom he knew very well there. Opera, Gren and Calua were at his left accompanied by nine more Kurvaz members. Beluga was at his right with nine more Kurvaz members accompanying him as well. Merveille was standing in front of the office's desk holding a folder in her arm.

"Hey, guys! Long time no see!" Red greeted.

"Hello, there, dumpling," said Opera in her usual flirty manner.

"It's been a while," said Gren with a smile.

"How've you been, dude?" asked Calua in his usual cheerful manner.

"Hello, again, Red. And Elh," said Beluga.

"Hello, Beluga," greeted Elh with a smile.

"It looks like everyone is here. I'm glad to see that all of you have been doing well," said Merveille.

"Of course!" said Chocolat. "Meeting up like this reminds me of the time we worked together to save Shepherd Republic!"

"Yeah, dude! We kicked some tail that time!" stated Calua.

"That time was indeed memorable," said Merveille. "Aside from that, with everyone here, shall we commence the meeting?"

"Go ahead, Merveille," said Opera. "Oh, boy, this is going to be exciting!"

"Then, without further ado, allow me to start. As you all know, this job is top secret. No one other than the Kurvaz save Red, Chocolat, Elh and Beluga must know about this. This job may seem impossible to be done. But, with all your help, I am positive that we will be successful in doing it,"

"So, what's the job you're offering us, Merveille?" asked Red.

"It is this-I plan to have all of us in this room travel to another world,"

Red, Chocolat and Elh were surprised upon hearing her words. "Hey, is this some sort of joke? Travelling to another world?" said Red.

"Is that even possible? And why are the rest of you not surprised?" asked Elh.

"Because we have been given a brief summary of this topic," Beluga answered Elh's question. "And yes, it is possible to travel to another world thanks to Merveille's research,"

"Research?" said Red.

"Yes, the truth is for the past two years, I have been researching methods of dimensional transfer. I started to ponder about this subject ever since we discovered the Old Earth. I felt like wanting to know what a world inhabited by humans alone would be like. So, two years ago, I and Beluga went to the Futzu Tower to ask Yurlungur for her assistance in my research,"

"Why ask her?" asked Chocolat.

"That is because she possessed images of the Old Earth. With her permission, I used the data of those images to pinpoint a possible world we can travel to. One with humans alone that is,"

"But, exactly how are we going to travel to that world?" asked Red.

"I am about to go into that. Over the past two years, the Kurvaz had secretly designed a large interdimensional transporter near the Futzu Tower. We are going to use that transporter to travel to the other world. Do not worry about getting lost though because all the data of that world has been stored in the transporter itself,"

"I understand so far, Merveille but, why label this job as top secret?" said Red.

"Well, had we made this information known to the public, there might be some bad people who would take the opportunity to use the transporter for their own selfish needs. Who knows, there might be some people who plan to travel around worlds and wreak havoc in them. If that happens, the Kurvaz... No... The whole of Shepherd Republic might be blamed by the other worlds for such chaos,"

"I think I understand what you are trying to explain," said Elh.

"Anyway, to summarize, I would like to have all of us here test out the transporter. We are to do that tomorrow. And once we're done exploring the other world, our head of Kurvaz, Opera, will pay us a handsome amount of money, that is ten thousand rings for each one of us,"

"Ten thousand!" exclaimed Chocolat, surprised.

"Is the Kurvaz that rich, Opera?" asked Red.

"Of course, Red, sweetie boy. You see, the Kurvaz has been getting lucrative jobs during the past two years so we raked in a whole lot of money," said Opera.

"Yeah, and we as Kurvaz will sweat blood in order to get our pay!" said a Kurvaz member standing next to Beluga.

"You got that right! Ten thousand's much higher than the pay that bastard Bruno gave us in the past!" another Kurvaz member spoke up.

"But, wait, with Opera coming with us for the journey, who's going to watch over the Kurvaz?" Elh asked.

"Not to worry. We got that covered. There are three members of the Kurvaz whose leadership skills are almost equal to Lady Opera's," stated Gren.

"You heard him, dude. It's all in the Kurvaz's hands!" said Calua.

"That's a relief," replied Elh.

"Well, I guess that's it for the meeting?" Red asked Merveille.

"One more thing, the journey to the other world may be a bumpy one. As such, there's a possibility we might get separated along the way,"

"Seriously?" exclaimed Red in a surprise. "We'll have to be extra careful in our trip then!"

"Exactly, dumpling. You better ensure that your robot is in good condition before the trip," said Opera to Red.

"I'll do just that," replied Red. "Chocolat will help me with the maintenance of my Dahak,"

"Right at you, brother!" Chocolat said.

"And I'll be having my honey bun, Elh, here to lift up my spirits for the trip!" Red said with a smile while putting an arm around Elh.

"You're so sweet, Red," said Elh. Everyone in the room laughed upon hearing Elh's words.

"Well, then, that would be it for the meeting," Merveille then stated. "For now, we're dismissed,"

"Let's do our best tomorrow, everyone!" Opera said.

"Yeah!"


	3. Chapter 2: Arrival at the Other World

It was a fine day in the nation of Japan in the planet Earth. In a city located in the nation itself, humans were doing their own everyday activities. People walked in the streets, some of them were using laptops for work purposes and some were parents having fun with their children. The city was just as peaceful as Shepherd Republic.

Among the people walking in the streets were a young man with brown hair accompanied by a teenage girl with blue hair. The young man was Ryusei Date, a member of the SRX team of Personal Trooper pilots. The girl who was with him is Kusuha Mizuha, a member of another Personal Trooper pilot team called the ATX team. The two of them are on their way to a hospital to visit Ryusei's mother, a regular patient of the hospital itself.

"Man, it sure is good walking in the city peacefully after having to save the world a few times," said Ryusei to Kusuha.

"Yes, perhaps we deserve this for all the effort we put into protecting the world from threats," replied Kusuha.

"That's right. But, you know, it's kind of boring when there's nothing to protect the world from. I mean there are no more extraterrestrial beings whose butts need kicking like the Aerogaters..."

"Oh, Ryusei, you only think of having fun by fighting with your favorite PTs don't you?" said Kusuha after giggling a little.

"Of course not! What matters to me most is that the people in the Earth are safe from any threats especially my friends and mother,"

"That's good of you to say that,"

"Thanks for the compliment. Ah, we've arrived at the hospital," Ryusei and Kusuha stopped talking and began to enter the hospital. After asking a nurse for Ryusei's mother's room, the two were brought by a doctor to that room.

(scene change)

The day where Merveille's interdimensional transporter will be tested had come. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar were hovering in front of the transporter, a gigantic ring shaped device with a hole in the middle of it. The hole was big enough for the Asmodeus and Golden Roar to enter. Chocolat was piloting the Asmodeus and had Red and Elh accompany her. Opera, Calua, Gren, Beluga, Merveille and the eighteen Kurvaz members from yesterday's meeting were in the Golden Roar. All of the passengers' respective robots were stored in their own ships. Yurlungur was communicating with them regarding the use of the transporter.

"Once all of you are ready to leave, I will activate the transporter. When you all want to come back to this world, just contact me. My data has been saved into your ships' communicators hence, making such contact possible. Once you contact me, I will pinpoint your location in the other world and have the transporter appear there for you to use," said Yurlungur to the passengers.

"Thanks, Yurlungur! You're a big help!" said Red.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go already!" said an excited Kurvaz member.

"Yeah!" shouted the other Kurvaz members.

"My, such enthusiasm you have today, boys," Opera praised the Kurvaz members. She then said, "We'll be leaving soon so, brace yourself my dear plum puddings!"

"Yes, Lady Opera!" said the Kurvaz members.

"We're ready too, Yurlungur!" said Chocolat.

"Understood. I will now activate the transporter. I wish you all good luck in your trip,"

Upon Yurlungur's words, a blue colored energy projection appeared in the transporter's hole. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar began to move towards the transporter. At that moment, everyone in the two ships were excited about what would happen next.

"This is it, Elh, Chocolat! Let's do this with a bang!" said Red.

"Yeah!" Chocolat and Elh replied with excitement.

"Oh, boy, Lady Opera! This is really gonna go down into history!" Calua stated. He then turned to the Kurvaz members and added, "Isn't that right, dudes?"

"Yeah!" the Kurvaz members shouted out loud.

Merveille giggled and said, "It appears the Kurvaz soldiers really like this trip,"

"I agree with you, Merveille," said Beluga with a smile.

Soon, the Asmodeus and Golden Roar entered the transporter. The moment they did, the passengers were amazed at what the ships were currently travelling in. The two ships were flying in what appeared to be a never-ending passageway of purple energy.

"Wow, check this out, dudes," Calua marveled at the sight of the scene outside the ships, his eyes twinkling. "It's like we're in a sci-fi movie,"

"You can say that again," said Red. "This kinda reminds me of that sci-fi movie I watched with Chocolat when we were kids..."

"Oh, you're talking about that movie about the time travelling Caninu? Thinking about that movie brings back memories of our childhood!" said Chocolat.

"The "Dog Who Travelled Time" right? I watched that movie before, dude! It was so cool!" said Calua.

"Yes, but it had some really touching scenes. Thinking about them makes me want to cry..." said a Kurvaz member as he was wiping his tears away with his arm.

Everyone save Opera, Gren, Merveille and Beluga sweatdropped upon hearing his words. Opera chuckled and said, "Ah, the beauty of movies. They are so good the viewers' emotions are influenced by them,"

"Uh, yeah..." said Red.

"Aside from this, I hope that our journey will be smooth," stated Gren.

"Yes, but, just in case, we should prepare for the worst case scenario," said Merveille.

"You've got a point-"

Red's words were interrupted by a soft rumbling sound at the Asmodeus's bridge. "What was that?" Red then asked. "The Asmodeus just rumbled a little,"

"We've felt the same thing in the Golden Roar," said Beluga.

"This doesn't sound good," stated Elh. "We should be on our guard-"

Suddenly, both the Asmodeus and Golden Roar rumbled violently. "Hey, what's going on?" asked Red in shock.

"Something's not right!" exclaimed Beluga. "It's as if the ships are losing control!"

"You're right! I can't control the ship!" said Chocolat.

"What? No way!" said Red.

"As I expected, the journey would be a bumpy one," stated Merveille.

"Lady Opera, the communication system is breaking down!" Gren exclaimed.

"What's that you said?" said Chocolat in shock.

"Not good! At this rate, we might-"

Beluga's words were cut short because the communication systems of the Asmodeus and Golden Roar immediately shut down. "Oh, no! Now, we can't update each other on important information anymore!" Chocolat exclaimed.

"Look! The Golden Roar is moving away from us!" Elh said while pointing to the ship.

"No way! That means what Merveille said about getting separated yesterday was true?" said Red.

The Asmodeus and Golden Roar began to rumble more violently. Both of the ships' passengers began to hold onto something to prevent themselves from being thrown around by the rumblings.

"Everyone, hold on tight!" Gren shouted. He then added to the Kurvaz members, "All of you, protect Lady Opera at all costs!"

"Elh, stay close to me!" said Red. Elh did as she was told and hugged Red.

"Will we be able to make it?" Elh asked with a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry. As long as we're together like this, it'll be fine," Red assured Elh.

"Red, Elh, brace yourself! The rumbling's increasing!" exclaimed Chocolat.

The Asmodeus and Golden Roar went their separate ways. The passengers were startled by a bright light in front of their respective ships. They all began to shield their eyes from the light itself.

"What is that light?" Red said.

"So bright... I hope we'll be safe..." Gren said.

Things looked bleak for the Asmodeus and Golden Roar. The passengers hoped that the worst would not occur...

(scene change)

It was a fine morning. Ryusei was jogging in a park by himself. "Man, it sure is breezy right now," he said to himself. "It's a good thing I managed to take leave to visit my mum as well as enjoy this cooling breeze. It would be funny if I think that an alien attack would disrupt the peace right now-"

Ryusei's words were interrupted by a ringing sound. It was his cell phone ringing inside his shorts pocket. "Oh, I wonder who that is," said Ryusei as he stopped jogging and answered his cell phone. "Hello?" he then said upon putting the phone at his ear. "Oh, hey, Rai, what's up?"

"Ryusei, I'm sorry for interrupting your leave but, we have an emergency!" said the caller who was one of Ryusei's SRX teammates, Raidese F. Branstein or Rai for short.

"An emergency?" asked Ryusei.

"Yes, the Earth Federation Izu base is being attacked by beings we have never seen before!"

(scene change)

Somewhere above a vast ocean, an extraordinary event took place. A large portal appeared above the sea itself. Out of the portal came a ship which seemed to be losing control. The ship was none other than the Asmodeus which has been separated from the Golden Roar along the way to the other world. The Asmodeus was about to plunge into the ocean. Thankfully, as it was about to do so, it went back up into the air flying normally like an ordinary ship. The Asmodeus was then set to float in the air above the ocean by it's pilot, Chocolat.

"Whew, that was close! We nearly plunged into the sea," said Red.

"Have we arrived?" asked Elh.

"Well, yes. Hey, Red, did you say we nearly plunged into the sea?"

"Why, I did, Chocolat. Why?"

"We're definitely in the other world! There's no sea in Shepherd Republic!" said Chocolat.

"Hey, you're right!" said Red. He then added happily, "Alright, that means we made it safely!"

"But, I wonder if the Golden Roar is fine..." said Elh who was looking worried.

"Yeah..." said Chocolat with the same look on her face. Even Red began to look worried. Chocolat then changed the subject saying, "Anyway, we have a bigger problem. The Asmodeus's communicator was spoiled during the journey. As long as we don't fix it, we'll never be able to know how the rest of us are doing,"

"You're right. We got to fix it-"

Red was interrupted by a crackling noise from the Asmodeus's communicator. Soon, the image of Merveille was about to be formed on the communicator's screen. Merveille was trying to contact the Asmodeus but the crackling made her message unclear.

"Red... can... hear me?"

"What? The communicator's working again?" asked Red in surprise.

"That's impossible! Did it just repair itself?" exclaimed Chocolat, surprised.

The communicator was then restored to normal with Merveille's message becoming much clearer. "Red, Chocolat, Elh, can all of you hear me?" asked Merveille.

"We can, Merveille. Is the Golden Roar alright?" said Red.

"Thankfully, yes. And so are we. However, as you all know we have been separated. For your information, we are currently hovering above a desert like area," said Merveille.

"We're doing the same thing except that we're above an ocean," said Chocolat.

"Too bad we couldn't land at the same place together. But, at least we're safe," said Red to Merveille.

"Yes," replied Merveille. "Anyway, we will contact you, Elh and Chocolat should there be anything interesting. For the time being, we should explore this world. Do take care of yourselves,"

"We will, Merveille. You and the others in the Golden Roar take care too," said Chocolat.

"Thank you. Well then, I will see you later," With that, Merveille switched off the Golden Roar's communicator. The communicator in the Asmodeus was even switched off by Red. After switching off the communicator, Red said, "Well, that solves our problem regarding the communicator. So, where shall we go?"

"To begin with, we're in the middle of an incredibly wide ocean. We could go anywhere but at the same time, we might get lost," said Elh.

"True..." Red agreed with Elh's words.

"Well, I suggest that we fly straight. By doing that instead of going around in random directions, we might not get lost easily," said Chocolat.

"That's worth a shot. Let's try that," said Red.

"Okay," said Elh.

"Alright, everyone! You ready for exploration!" Red exclaimed with excitement.

"Yeah!" Elh and Chocolat shouted with joy.

"Then, let's go! Onward!" Hearing Red's words, Chocolat began to pilot the Asmodeus and flew it straight ahead. Red, Chocolat and Elh expected to come across something exciting in their journey. Little do they know that what was ahead of them was an island under attack by strange beings. The island had what looked like a military base on top of it.

The island was the SRX team's Izu base.


	4. Chapter 3: Red and the SRX

At the Earth Federation Izu base, headquarters of the SRX team, the team itself was battling a group of beings attacking their base. The beings were not like any of those which the team had faced in the past. These beings looked spherical in shape and were black in color. They had red outlines on their bodies and fired purple spheres of destruction to their enemies. The beings came in two sizes. Some of them were as big as the SRX teams' PTs and some were as big as a human.

The PTs battled the gigantic sized beings while the human sized beings were dealt by the Izu base's military personnel. The SRX team members, Ryusei, Raidese, Aya, Mai, Viletta and Latooni were firing their PTs' weapons at the beings. The Izu base's military personnel had their soldiers and tanks fire furiously at the human sized beings.

"D***, what are these things? There's no end to them!" said Ryusei as he fought furiously with his PT, the R-1.

"We have to keep fighting! If we stop, they'll take over our headquarters in no time!" exclaimed Raidese.

"We can't just fire our weapons continuously like this! There has to be a source as to where these beings are coming from!" said Aya.

"I agree. The question is how are we going to do that? We're clearly being overwhelmed slowly. Furthermore, where is the source? If we don't know where it is, we'll never be able to find it," stated Viletta.

"So, we just fight until the end?" asked Latooni, concerned.

"I guess that's how it is for now," said Ryusei. He then added while destroying another one of the beings, "We'll just have to go all out until we drop!"

(scene change)

The Asmodeus, which was still flying straight ahead and above the ocean, had not reached any destination yet. What Red, Elh and Chocolat saw so far was nothing but an endless path ahead of them.

"Man, nothing interesting has come up," said Red.

"Perhaps we should stop and rest for a while. If we keep this up, we'll be burned out," suggested Elh.

"You have a point. I'll do just that," said Chocolat.

"Yeah, sure," said Red. Just then, something far from the front of the Asmodeus caught Red's attention. "Hey, wait. You see that?" he then said.

"See what?" said Chocolat. "Are we reaching somewhere?"

"I'm not sure but, I'm seeing explosions from here," replied Red.

"That's odd. Is there a war ahead of us?" said Elh.

"Let's go and find out," said Chocolat as she continued flying the Asmodeus forward.

The Asmodeus continued it's straight path. As it did, Red, Elh and Chocolat saw the source of the explosions. Much to their shock, in front of them was the Izu base being defended from the black colored beings by the SRX team. Chocolat had the Asmodeus remain afloat in the air to avoid getting the ship involved in the conflict.

"What in the world? Are we approaching a war zone? And what are those gigantic robots we're looking at? I never thought this world had robots too!" said Red.

"Those black things attacking that island..." Elh said as her attention was focused on the black beings. Suddenly, she became even more shocked and said, "It can't be! They are Shades!"

"Shades? You don't mean the things produced by Lares and Lemures, the beasts that attempted to destroy Shepherd Republic in the past?" said Red, his eyes wide open in shock.

"But, what are they doing here? Weren't they gone for good a long time ago?" asked Chocolat.

"I do not know what's going on but, we can't leave this be. We must help whoever's being attacked by the Shades here," said Elh.

"You're right. In fact, look down there,"

As Red spoke, he pointed to the island. Chocolat and Elh looked at where Red pointed. To their horror, they saw human soldiers getting slaughtered by the Shades. Apparently, the soldiers were fighting a losing war.

"This is horrible!" Chocolat exclaimed. She then said to Red, "Brother, we got to do something!"

"Well, Elh did say that right now," said Red who began to look angry after he saw the humans being killed without remorse. "I'm going to pilot the Dahak Mk2! Chocolat, fly towards the island and drop me down there!" Red added as he ran out of the Asmodeus's bridge.

"Got it, brother!" replied Chocolat.

"I'm coming with you!" said Elh as she followed Red.

The Asmodeus flew towards the SRX team's headquarters. As it did, the SRX team and the Izu base's military personnel noticed it's arrival. "What is that ship?" Ryusei asked. "Is it another enemy?"

"I've never seen that ship before," said Mai. "It doesn't look as if it belongs to the Earth Federation or Neo DC,"

"Let's contact the ship. I don't know what it's doing here but, it's too dangerous for it to be in this battlefield," said Viletta.

The SRX team began to communicate with the Asmodeus. Chocolat began receiving messages from them via the ship's communicator. However, much to her surprise, the Asmodeus's communicator screen did not show the faces of whoever was contacting her. The word, "Unknown", was written on the screen instead.

"You who is piloting the ship. Get out of here at once. It's dangerous to stay in this place," Viletta's voice said to Chocolat.

"Why should we run? We came here to help," replied Chocolat.

"We? You mean there's more than one person in that ship?" asked Raidese's voice.

"Yes, I'm going to have my brother and a friend drop down from this ship to where your soldiers are. They'll help your soldiers fight the creatures,"

"Don't be ridiculous! You don't even have a PT! What's more, your ship is not even armed!" said Ryusei's voice.

"PT? What's that?" Chocolat asked.

"You don't know what's a PT?" asked Mai's voice.

"A-Anyway, I'm reaching your soldiers. I'm going to drop my brother and friend now!"

The Asmodeus flew over the Izu base's military personnel. At that moment, Chocolat spoke to Red via the Asmodeus's communicator. "Red, I'm going to drop the Dahak to the ground now!"

"Gotcha, sis! Let's go, Elh!" Red's voice could be heard from the SRX team's PTs' communicators.

"Yes!" said Elh.

To the SRX team's surprise, something came down from the Asmodeus. It was falling down to the ground. "To all SRX team members, magnify the image of that thing in your control screens!" Viletta instructed upon seeing the thing.

The SRX team members did as they were told. Viletta even did the same thing. Upon doing so, they became more surprised when they identified the falling object. It was the Dahak Mk2 with Red sitting in it and Elh holding onto him. It was clear that the SRX team had never seen anything like this.

"What is that?" asked Mai.

"Is that a Personal Trooper?" Ryusei asked.

"And what or who is that piloting the robot? Is it human?" said Aya.

The Dahak Mk2 landed on the ground next to the Izu base's surviving soldiers and remaining tanks. The soldiers were startled by the Dahak's appearance. They were even more startled by Red and Elh's appearance. Red turned around to face the soldiers and said with a grin, "Hey, you guys! You all okay?"

"Wh-What are you things?" asked one soldier to Red and Elh.

"Are you here to help us?" asked another.

"You bet we are! And we are not things by the way," Red replied. Soon after his reply, Red received a message via the Dahak's communicator from one of the SRX team's members. At that moment, Red's communicator showed the word "Unknown" on the screen.

"Whoever you are that is piloting the robot, your name's Red, right?" Viletta's voice was transmitted through the communicator.

"How did you know my name and my robot?" asked Red in surprise.

"We heard your name being called by that ship's pilot. And we heard the name of your friend who is with you right now. Your friend's called Elh right? And about your robot, we saw it come down from that ship earlier," said Viletta's voice.

"This is no time for introductions!" Elh spoke to the communicator. "Listen, I know of a way of how to stop the beings from attacking this island. There should be something that is summoning all of them here. Find that and destroy it! That way, the attacks will cease!"

"You seem to know these creatures. And for your information, I and my teammates also thought that the beings come from a certain source," said Raidese's voice.

"Besides, how do you know about these beings?" asked Ryusei's voice.

"Let's talk later! Right now, we have to deal with the creatures!" said Red as he prepared to fight the Shades. "You ready for this, Elh?" Red then asked.

"Yes," said Elh.

Red grinned and shouted, "Okay, let's rumble!"

Red moved the Dahak towards a large group of Shades. Using the Dahak's strong arms, Red grabbed one of them and spun around in circles. At the same time, he swung the Shade around, hitting any other Shade in his way.

"Cho Hissatsu!* Giant Swing!"

Red stopped spinning and threw the Shade with all his might towards another large group of Shades. Red's throw was filled with so much strength that the Shade caused the other group of Shades to disperse upon colliding with them. Much to the Izu base's military personnel and SRX team's amazement, the Shades then disappeared into nothingness.

"That was awesome!" Ryusei shouted in excitement.

"Thanks for the comment. But, that's not all!"

Saying this, Red ran to another Shade and grabbed it. He then tossed it into the air, making it fly over another group of Shades. The moment it was above that group of Shades, Red quickly moved the Dahak forward, had it jump forward and grab the Shade once more. He then had the Dahak ram it down to the ground while holding it and with full force.

"Kyukyoku* Hyper Driver!"

The moment the Shade in the Dahak's grip came into contact with the ground, a large shockwave was released from the point of contact. The shockwave desecrated any other Shades around the Dahak itself. The military personnel and SRX team were even more amazed upon seeing the Dahak's feat of strength.

"Such strength... For a small robot, it's strength is almost equal to that of a Gespenst's," said Raidese.

"Hey, my robot may be small pal but, it packs a punch!" bragged Red after hearing Raidese's comment.

"Brother, this is not the time to brag! There are more enemies coming towards you!" said Chocolat while steering the Asmodeus away from the Shades's attacks.

"Yes, stay focused!" said Viletta. "Everyone, find the source of all these creatures and destroy it!"

Hearing this, Red and the SRX team searched for the source of the Shades while fighting them. The Izu base's military personnel backed up Red and his Dahak, their spirits rising after seeing Red's incredible fighting ability.

"D***, we can't find the source anywhere!" said Ryusei.

"We have to keep searching!" said Elh. "The source definitely has to be here!"

"But, I don't see any source! I only see all these beings surrounding us!" said Aya.

"So, we're going to just fight until we get overwhelmed? No way!" exclaimed Ryusei.

Elh started to think hard about where the source of the Shades would be. Normally, she thought, the source would be present at a certain location continuously spawning endless amounts of Shades. Strangely, this time, the source is unseen yet the number of Shades kept increasing. After some hard thinking, an idea dawned upon her. She knew what needed to be done in order to search for the source. Quickly, Elh shared her idea with Red, Chocolat and the SRX team.

"Everyone, I got it! This might be ridiculous but, I think the source of the creatures is invisible!"

"What's that you say? What made you think of that?" asked Raidese.

"It sounds crazy but, it's the only logical thought I could think of! Normally, for these beings to appear endlessly, the source must be present in our eyes. But, this time, it's not!" stated Elh.

"But, how are we going to find the source if it's invisible? We don't have equipment to detect invisible enemies!" said Aya.

"Leave it to me. Red, let me stand next to the soldiers,"

"Elh, what are you saying? I can't let you down! You might get hurt!" Red said.

"Red, you must trust me! I'm going to use a spell to detect the source. The soldiers will protect me while I do that!"

"Spell? What are you, Elh? Some kind of magician?" asked Ryusei.

"You sure about this, Elh? It's really dangerous here," said Red.

"Don't worry," replied Elh. She then whispered into Red's ear, "I'll be safe, dear. Trust me,"

"Alright then," With those words, Red went to the soldiers and had Elh go down the Dahak.

"You guys, take care of her! She's going to help us search for the source of all these creatures!" said Red to the soldiers.

"What's she going to do?" asked one of them.

"Yeah, what?" asked Ryusei.

"Watch," said Elh.

Elh closed her eyes. She started to chant strange words. As she did, a blue mark appeared on her forehead. The soldiers were surprised once they saw the mark. They became more surprised when the Shades suddenly ceased attacking. Even the SRX team were surpsied by the sudden change in the Shades' behavior.

"What's with the monsters all of a sudden?" asked Ryusei.

"And what is Elh doing? She looks as if she's muttering," said Aya.

"Brother, what's going on?" Chocolat asked Red.

Red smiled and answered, "Elh's working her magic in looking for the source of the monsters,"

"She's searching for the source? How? She's only muttering some words," asked Latooni.

"You'll see," said Red.

Elh continued chanting with her eyes closed. Suddenly, the mark on her forehead began to shine. At that moment, Elh opened her eyes and said, "Eye of Truth, clear the illusionary mist that blinds us of reality," She then pointed towards somewhere and shouted, "Reveal to us the one that is hiding in the mist!"

All of a sudden, an incredibly large Shade became present in the eyes of everyone at the Izu base. The Shade was much bigger than the ones which were present. "That's the source of the creatures?" asked Ryusei.

The mark on Elh's forehead disappeared and she said, "With this, our real enemy is revealed,"

The soldiers were amazed at what Elh had done. "Great job, Elh!" praised Red.

"Yeah, you did great!" Chocolat praised Elh.

"No time for praising each other now. Everyone, fire at the source!"

Hearing Raidese's words the whole of the SRX team fired their PTs' weapons furiously at the large Shade. Their attacks were so furious the Shade could not counterattack. The other Shades looked as if they were panicking upon what happened.

"Hey, the enemy! They're not attacking us!" said Red.

"Alright, we're gonna win this battle!" said one of the soldeirs. The soldiers cheered after hearing those words.

The SRX team fired their weapons until the large Shade was completely weakened. "Now, everyone! Finish it off!" Viletta commanded the team.

"Roger!"

"I'll go first! Strike Shield!"

"Hi-Zol Launcher!"

"Hyper Beam Rifle!"

"Dead End Shoot!"

After Aya, Raidese, Latooni and Viletta launched their PTs' strongest attacks on the Shade, Ryusei and Mai finished off the monster with a combination attack.

"T-Link Double Knuckle!"

The Shade was finally destroyed. With that, all of the other Shades disappeared into thin air. Seeing this, the Izu base's military personnel gave out a loud cheer. Red gave Elh a hug for her assistance in looking for the large Shade. The attack on the Izu base has been successfully warded off.

*Super Certain Kill Technique

*Ultimate


	5. Chapter 4: Elh's Proposition

The SRX team was waiting inside a meeting room in the Izu base to meet the people who helped them defend the base itself. With the team were two other people, Captain Tetsuya Onodera, master of the team's ship, the Hagane, and Eita Nadaka, the Hagane's bridge operator.

"Good work in defending the base today," said Tetsuya to the SRX team. "Even without the Hagane's help, the SRX team have coped with the situation well,"

"Thank you, Captain Tetsuya. However, we of the SRX team are not to be thanked alone. We were assisted by an unknown ship and robot," said Viletta.

"Of course, I do know that. We will give them the credit for defending this base as well," said Tetsuya.

"There is something that bothers me about them though," said Raidese.

"What is it?" asked Tetsuya.

"For some reason, I think that the ship and robot are created using technology that are not from this world. In other words, I believe that they came from another world,"

"I think he has a point, Captain Tetsuya. This is because earlier, we saw the pilot of the robot that helped us. The pilot was not human," said Latooni.

"Not human you said? Well, this is quite interesting," said Tetsuya.

"What's more, the robot that helped us... Is it some kind of Personal Trooper?" said Ryusei.

"Based on what we saw, perhaps it is but, at the same time, it may not be one," commented Aya.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryusei asked Aya.

"We will know the answers to all our questions once we meet our new comrades," said Viletta. "By the way, what is taking them so long? The dock is not far away from here. They should be here in a short time,"

"Now that you mention it, captain, they are taking their time," said Mai.

"I wonder what they are doing?" asked Eita.

Just then, a soldier came into the meeting room with a message for Tetsuya. "Captain Tetsuya, sir, please forgive me for interrupting the meeting. I came to let you know that the people who helped us defend the base earlier are at the cafeteria,"

"What would they be doing there? Weren't they supposed to come here?" Tetsuya asked the soldier.

"My apologies, sir, but, they seem to interested in sampling Japanese food. They told me they would come here once they're done..." answered the soldier.

"Looks like they really are from another world. I'm guessing their world doesn't seem to have Japanese food," said Raidese.

"Let's go see them shall we?" said a smiling Tetsuya as he stood up. The SRX team and Eita did the same and the group went out of the meeting room.

(scene change)

The Izu base's cafeteria was filled with soldiers and the base's working staff. Normally, they would all have their meals and chat with each other. However, they did not do so today. Instead, all of them were looking at one table in the center of the cafeteria. They had surprised looks on their faces. After all, the people at the table were none other than Red, Chocolat and Elh.

Red was eating multiple plates of Japanese food. The people around the cafeteria were shocked at the amount of food that Red could eat. Chocolat and Elh were sitting in front of Red watching him stuff himself with delight. Elh was slowly drinking an aromatic cup of tea which she liked.

"Whew, I'm stuffed!" Red said as he finished his food. "This is great stuff!"

"Yeah, brother! This world really has food as good as Shepherd Republic's!" said Chocolat.

"Aside from the food, you shouldn't have eaten a whole lot, Red. We have attracted a lot of unnecessary attention," said Elh.

"What? You mean them?" asked Red as he motioned to the people in the cafeteria. He then said with a grin, "Relax, they're not going to harm us. Besides, they're not used to seeing us Caninu and Felineko. But, don't worry, they will in time,"

"I hope so..." said Chocolat with a sweatdrop on her head.

"By the way, I almost forgot. We're supposed to be heading to the meeting room, right? Well, I guess we kept whoever wanted to meet us waiting there so, let's get going," said Red as he was about to stand up.

"There's no need for that,"

Red, Chocolat and Elh looked at the person who spoke to them. It was Captain Tetsuya accompanied by Eita and the SRX team. They were in front of Red, Chocolat and Elh's table.

"Hi," Red greeted Tetsuya and his company, grinning.

"Uh, hi..." said Mai.

"Excuse me but, we were waiting for you in the meeting room earlier. We wondered where the three of you went so we looked for you," said Tetsuya to Red, Chocolat and Elh.

"Oh, you're the ones waiting for us?" Chocolat said to Tetsuya and his company.

"Well, yes, um... What's your name please?" said Tetsuya. It was clear that he, Eita and the SRX team were surprised in their hearts to see beings such as Red, Chocolat and Elh.

"Oh, so you're the ones waiting for us! Well, sorry for having you all wait that long!" said Red. "Anyway, let me introduce myself. I'm Red Savarin. And these two here are my sister, Chocolat Gelato, and my girlfriend, Elh Melizee,"

"It's good to meet you!" said Chocolat with a cheerful attitude.

"Hello," Elh greeted with a smile.

"Those are pretty good names. Anyway, I'm Captain Tetsuya Onodera and this is my assistant, Eita Nadaka. Next to me here is the SRX team comprised of Captain Viletta Vadim, Raidese F. Branstein, Ryusei Date, Aya Kobayashi, Mai Kobayashi and Latooni Subbota,"

"SRX team? What's that?" asked Red.

"Oh, about that, it's complicated. But, before that, perhaps you can tell me more about what you all are and where you're all from?" said Tetsuya.

"Yeah, I want to know too. I've never seen a talking dog and cat before..." stated Ryusei.

Red chuckled and replied, "Eh, sure. Believe it or not, it's like this..."

Red then explained about the Asmodeus and Golden Roar's trip to another world. He even gave a brief summary about his home world, Shepherd Republic, and it's inhabitants, the Caninu and Felineko.

"So, there's more than three of you um... beings and you three currently plan to reunite with your friends?" said Tetsuya to Red.

"That's right. However, we also have to deal with the creatures that attacked this base," said Red.

"Speaking of them, Elh, right? You seemed to know about those creatures. What are they?" Raidese said to Elh.

Elh became serious upon hearing Raidese's question. "It's a good thing you asked, Mister Raidese. I'll be frank about them. To begin with, the beings you and your friends faced earlier are a potential threat to this world," she said.

"A threat?" asked Viletta. "You mean they're going to destroy this world?"

"Allow me to explain, Miss Viletta. Listen carefully..."

Elh began explaining about the Shades and the chaos they had brought to Shepherd Republic in the past. She stated that their existence is because of the appearance of Lares and Lemures, the two Titano Machina which Red battled two years ago. Elh also explained that Lares and Lemures had been sealed away long ago and must have been reawakened by someone for the Shades to appear in the Earth.

"This is disastrous. You're saying that two enormous and dangerous entities have been summoned to this world?" said Aya to Elh.

"Yes. But, how they were called into this world and who did that, I do not know," said Elh.

"This is crazy. We got to find these two Titano Machina fast!" said Ryusei.

"But, how do we start finding them?" asked Mai. She then said, "They could be anywhere,"

"That is why I suggest something to you, Captain Tetsuya," said Elh.

"What is it?" Tetsuya asked.

Elh answered, "We who have come from Shepherd Republic will assist you in defeating the Shades as well as the mastermind behind the reawakening of Lares and Lemures. However, for us to do that, we must first reunite with the Golden Roar. My friends from that ship have much more knowledge about the Shades. Once we meet up with them, we will plan a strategy to search for Lares and Lemures,"

Tetsuya started to think for a moment. He then asked Eita and the SRX team, "What do you all say to Elh's proposition?"

"I agree to it. It's the least we can do to repay Red, Chocolat and Elh here for helping us defend this base," said Eita.

"I agree as well. If what Elh says right now is the truth, my team and I will do all we can to help eliminate this new threat," stated Viletta.

"You got that right, captain. Besides, I'm interested in knowing more about Red's robot," said Ryusei while smiling. He turned to his teammates and added, "So, I guess we're all in to help Red out?"

The SRX team members save Ryusei nodded in approval with smiles on their faces. Seeing that everyone agreed to Elh's offer, Tetsuya said to her, "It's decided. We'll help you, Chocolat and Red put an end to Lares and Lemures,"

Elh smiled and replied, "Thank you very much," Even Red and Chocolat were delighted with Tetsuya's words.

"One more thing," Tetsuya said. He extended his hand towards Red and added with a smile, "I welcome you, Chocolat and Elh to my team with gratitude,"

Red stood up, shook Tetsuya's hand and replied, "You got it, captain!"

After Red and Tetsuya shook hands, Ryusei said with excitement, "Alright! Now that we're friends... Hey, Red, could you show me your robot right now? I'm dying to see it! It's so cool! I wanna touch it and snap a photo of it!"

"Oh, are you a robot enthusiast?" asked Red, smiling. He then gave Ryusei a thumbs up and added, "No problem! I'll also give you and your friends here a tour of me, Chocolat and Elh's ship, the Asmodeus!"

"That sounds nice," Aya said.

"Great! I would love that! Let me get my camera right now!" said Ryusei as he was about to leave the cafeteria.

"Uh... Ryusei, just one moment. I appreciate your enthusiasm but, I have one more thing to say about our mission in destroying the Shades before Red takes us for the tour," said Tetsuya.

"What is it?" Ryusei asked as he stopped moving.

"The first thing we'll do in our mission is to contact the Tesla Leicht Institute," Tetsuya said to Eita, the SRX team, Red, Chocolat and Elh. "With their expertise in research, they'll prove to be a valuable asset in our fight against the Shades,"

"Tesla Leicht Institute?" asked Red. Chocolat and Elh began to wonder what was the place Tetsuya mentioned.

"It's a research facility that has helped us many times in our combat against extraterrestrial beings," Eita said. "We have friends there so we'll ask for their help in combating Lares and Lemures,"

"That's great! Thanks, Captain Tetsuya!" said Chocolat with delight.

"You're most welcome," Tetsuya said, smiling. He then added, "Everyone, let us do our best in fighting our new enemy!"

"Yes, sir!" everyone except Captain Tetsuya said.


	6. Chapter 5: Kurvaz's Guilt

Meanwhile, at a desert, a large golden battleship was seen flying straight at a slow speed. The ship was none other than the Golden Roar which had been separated from the Asmodeus on the way to Earth. Inside the Golden Roar, Opera was sitting on her chair in the ship's office. Gren and Calua stood next to her. Merveille stood in front of Opera's office table while Beluga leaned himself against a wall. The eighteen Kurvaz soldiers that accompanied them were in the Golden Roar's control room, monitoring for anything interesting outside the ship.

"It's taking some time for us to arrive somewhere," said Opera while fanning herself with her hand fan. She then added with a worried look, "I hope we don't get lost,"

"Don't worry, Lady Opera!" said Calua cheerfully. "We'll definitely be fine! As long as the three of us are together, we'll overcome all odds!"

Opera giggled and replied, "Oh, thank you, sugar plum. You're always so reassuring, Calua,"

"He always has been, Lady Opera," said Gren, smiling.

"I wonder what this world has in store for us," said Beluga.

"Who knows? Anything could be out there," stated Merveille. She added while smiling, "But, personally, one can feel excited upon thinking about that,"

"Perhaps..." replied Beluga.

"I wonder how Red is doing so far," said Gren.

"Him? Don't worry too much about him, Gren, my dear. The boy will be fine. What's more, he might have made some friends with the people of this world," said Opera.

"Let us hope he is alright along with his sister and Elh," stated Gren.

"Yes, Gren. We also should take care of ourselves," said Merveille.

"Lady Opera!" said one of the eighteen Kurvaz soldiers who just entered the Golden Roar's office. "We are currently being contacted by Red! He is waiting to talk to you in the control room!"

"Well, that's splendid! Let us depart for the control room, everyone!"

Upon Opera's words, everyone in the office headed for the Golden Roar's control room. Once they reached there, the image of Red on the control room's communicator's screen could be seen by them.

"Hey, Merveille! Good to see that you're okay!" said Red.

"I would say the same to you," Merveille replied with a smile. "Have you found anything interesting on your side?"

"You bet I did! Chocolat, Elh and I made some human friends!" said Red excitedly.

"That's good to hear," said Gren.

"I knew he would make some friends in this world," Opera said.

"And to top it off, this world's got some cool history! The humans used to battle aliens in the past. They used gigantic robots called Personal Troopers to fight them! PTs for short," added Red.

"That's very interesting indeed," stated Merveille. "What do these PTs look like?"

"Well, one of our new friends here lent me some photos of them. Take a look," Red showed the crew of the Golden Roar photographs of Personal Troopers after he spoke. The crew looked amazed upon seeing the photographs.

"These robots are cool, dude!" commented Calua with excitement. "Now that I'm seeing them, I wish I could ride in one of them right now!"

"They are pretty stylish," stated Merveille.

"Thanks for the comments," said Red while putting the photographs aside. Red then became serious and said, "Other than this though, there's something disturbing you all might want to know right now,"

"And what would that be, sugar plum?" asked Opera. The crew of the Golden Roar began to feel uneasy after hearing Red's words.

"The Shades have surfaced in this world," said Elh.

Hearing this, the crew of the Golden Roar became shocked. "What is that you say?" Merveille asked Elh. "Is this true?"

"I'm afraid it is. You heard Red say that we made some new friends right? We met them by saving their base from an attack by the Shades," said Elh.

"Tell us more," said Merveille.

Elh then gave Merveille and her company a summary of the events on Red, Chocolat and her side. She even gave details about the SRX team. Elh even told the Golden Roar's crew that the Asmodeus is currently going to the Tesla Leicht Institute along with the SRX team's ship, the Hagane.

"This is impossible..." said Merveille. "The Titano Machina have been sealed away into another dimension! Who would be capable of retrieving them?"

"Do you think it's Baion?" Gren asked.

"No way, Gren! Baion had kept his word that he would not harm Shepherd Republic at all ever since I defeated him!" Red exclaimed.

"Okay, dude, if what you say is true then, who's the big boss behind all of this?" said Calua to Red.

"That's something we'll have to find out ourselves," said Chocolat.

"I agree. However, we at the Golden Roar would be currently unable to think of a way to deal with this matter as we have not come across anything useful right now. We'll have to rely on you, Red and Elh to devise a way for the time being," said Merveille.

"You got it, Merveille. We should be able to think of something once we get help from the Tesla Leicht Institute," said Red.

"By all means, please do that. We're counting on you, Red," said Merveille.

"You have our word," said Elh. "We'll contact you again later,"

"Yes, Elh. We'll be waiting for your news," replied Merveille.

The communication screen in the Golden Roar's control room was switched off. The crew of the Golden Roar fell silent for a moment. They were slightly stunned that Lares and Lemures, whom they had sealed away with hard effort two years ago, had returned. As the crew kept quiet, Gren broke the silence by saying, "We must act immediately, Lady Opera,"

Opera who looked worried and placed her hand fan on her chin replied, "You are right, Gren. I never expected something like this…"

"Lady Opera, are you alright?" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers. "You look extremely worried,"

"That is not like you at all, Opera. Is something the matter?" Beluga said to Opera.

Opera was silent. She opened her hand fan and covered her mouth with it. Her face had a frown which made the rest of the crew concerned about her. She looked as if she was deep in thought.

"Lady Opera?" Calua asked, looking worried.

Opera closed her hand fan and let out a sigh. "I am fine, everyone," she then said. "I admit that every time I think of those monsters, Lares and Lemures, it makes me think of the wrongs we did in the past…" Opera's voice trailed off as she finished speaking.

"You mean the mistakes we did when we served Bruno?" asked Gren.

Opera nodded. "You see, sometime after I became the head of Kurvaz, I always felt that all those foul acts we did served as the guilt of the Kurvaz. I could never forget the bad things we did for Bruno. Take for instance, how we threatened the mayor of Shetland without questioning that vile mutt's intentions for doing so,"

Opera looked down on the ground with a sad look on her face. She added, "I've tried to make amends alone with all the people whom we had hurt in the past. However, to me, all those amendments are not enough to remove the guilt we Kurvaz would forever bear,"

The crew became sympathetic as Opera spoke. "With Lares and Lemures back, if they ever wreaked havoc at Shepherd Republic again, all my efforts in trying to erase the Kurvaz's guilt would be for nothing. If only they never came back right now…"

Gren placed his hand on Opera's shoulder. "Lady Opera, if you are thinking that we of the Kurvaz have been guilty for those mistakes all along, you are wrong,"

Opera became surprised. "What?" she asked while looking at Gren.

"Lady Opera, have you forgotten? When you became the new head of Kurvaz, you encouraged us to put aside the mistakes we did in the past and live on. You said that dwelling on the past will be a hindrance to the development of the new Kurvaz," Gren added. Opera kept quiet after hearing Gren's words.

"I…"

"Don't worry so much about the past, Lady Opera!" Calua said in his cheerful tone. "Although it does hurt thinking of our mistakes, we'll always be together to live our lives to the fullest!"

"Calua has a point there," stated Merveille.

"I agree," said Beluga.

"We've never been guilty all along, Lady Opera. We've decided a long time ago that we would move forward without turning back. That is the spirit of the Kurvaz!" said one of the eighteen Kurvaz soldiers.

"Yeah!" said the other Kurvaz soldiers.

"Besides, Lady Opera, if you worry too much, you'll get wrinkles!" said Calua. He then added teasingly while putting his face closer to Opera's, "And when that happens, you'll look old…"

"Don't call me old, Calua!" Opera hissed. The other crew members of the Golden Roar laughed. Opera then said with a smile, "But, thank you all for your kind advice. I feel much better,"

Opera opened her hand fan and added with her usual flirty tone, "So, let's do our best, everyone!"

"Yes, Lady Opera!" said the eighteen Kurvaz soldiers.

"Now, that is the Lady Opera I know," said Gren, smiling.

"Yes," said Merveille who also smiled. She then said with her normal calm face, "Aside from this, we should be on our guard as we wait for Red's news. There is a high chance that the Shades will attack us,"

"Merveille's right. Knowing the Shades, they could pop up anywhere," Beluga said.

"Yes, Beluga, sweetie. By the way, about Red, it would be good if his human friends were with us right now," said Opera.

"That's right, Lady Opera! I so want to meet them-"

"Lady Opera, we have unknown objects in our radar! They're approaching our ship from everywhere!" Calua's cheerful words were cut short by one of the Golden Roar's crew who handled the radar in the ship's control room.

"What are they?" asked Merveille.

"That's our answer," Gren said while pointing to a large window in the control room.

The Golden Roar's crew looked at the window. A horde of spherical black colored beings were approaching the Golden Roar from all directions. Once they came near the ship, the crew was shocked as they knew what they were.

They were the Shades.


	7. Chapter 6: Fight at the Institute

"The Shades? How did they know we're here?" said Merveille.

"We have to fight! Lady Opera, please allow us to go out of the ship in our robots!" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers to Opera.

"We can't do that," said Beluga.

"What are you saying? Why not?" the soldier asked Beluga.

"All of our mechs save the Tiamat and Salamander are not capable of flight. If we just send the two of them out, it's suicide," Beluga replied.

"Hey, we have the Golden Roar's weaponry to back us up, you know!" said another Kurvaz soldier.

"That is true. But, we are clearly being overwhelmed here. Even if Lady Opera and Beluga were to fight while being assisted by this ship, the chances of chasing the enemy away are slim," stated Gren.

"But, we can't just stand here and do nothing, right?" exclaimed a Kurvaz soldier. He then asked Opera and Merveille, "Isn't that right, Lady Opera, Miss Merveille?"

"I am afraid we do not have a choice," said Merveille. She began giving instructions to members of the Golden Roar's crew to tackle the current situation.

"Send out a distress signal right away! Defend the ship with all the weapons we have!"

(scene change)

It was a fine day at the Tesla Leicht Institute. The institute's staff was carrying out their everyday work of maintaining the standards of Personal Troopers and researching them. In the building's main office was Jonathan Kazahara who was accompanied by Filio Presty and Jonathan's son, Irmgard Kazahara or Irm for short. The three of them were sitting at a glass table which was meant for guests, chatting with each other.

"Man, it sure is boring without any more action these days," said Jonathan.

"I guess so. With no unknown life forms to fight with, all I can do is hang out with women," said Irm.

"Now, now, Irm, are women the only thing you can think of?" asked Filio.

"Well, of course not. I think of saving them whenever they're in trouble," replied Irm.

"You're still thinking of women then," Filio said. "You could take your Grungust for a ride instead,"

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea! I think I'll take some women for a ride on it!" exclaimed Irm.

"You're not serious about that, are you, son?" Jonathan asked while chuckling.

"Well, why shouldn't I try that? I got nothing better to do these days," said Irm.

"I don't think it's a good idea…" Filio remarked while pushing his spectacles up with his index finger.

Just then, the door to the main office was opened by a young woman. The woman was Tsugumi Takakura, Filio's fiancé. "Chief Kazahara! We're receiving a distress signal from an unknown ship not far from here!" she said to Jonathan.

"A distress signal?" asked Jonathan. "Is there a war going on here?"

"Well, looks like I've got something better to do now!" Irm said as he got out of his seat.

"At any rate, please come with me to the control room!" Tsugumi said to Jonathan, Irm and Filio.

Jonathan, Irm and Filio were led by Tsugumi to the control room. As they reached there, the four met their friends there. Their friends were the ATX team, the crew of the Hiryuu Kai, Major Kai Kitamura, Gilliam Yeager, Arado Balanga, Seolla Schweitzer, Lamia Loveless, Zengar Zonbolt, Elzam v. Branstein, Rishu Togo, Ibis Douglas, Masaki Andou, his familiars, Kuro and Shiro, Yuuki Jegunan and Ricarla Borgnine or Carla for short.

"What's the situation right now?" Jonathan asked one of the control room's staff who was at the radar.

"We have an unknown ship that is coming straight towards us. It is being surrounded by unknown beings and is currently fighting with them," replied the staff member.

"Does the ship belong to any faction?" asked Filio.

"I'm afraid I don't know, sir. The ship's information is not in our records," said the staff member.

"That's odd," commented Kai. "If that ship does not belong to the Earth Federation or the DC, could it be from another world?"

"Are you implying that the ship is from the other side, Major?" Lamia asked Kai.

"Regardless of it's whereabouts, we still have to save that ship," Kyosuke Nanbu, captain of the ATX team, stated.

"Kyosuke is correct. We should act now," said Elzam.

"Yes, but, it's best not to send all of us out there in case those beings approach this base and attack us. We should have some of the pilots guard this institute while the rest of them go and defend the ship,"

"I agree with Jonathan," said Captain Lefina, the Hiryuu Kai's commander. "In that case, let's have my crew along with the ATX team go and save the ship. The remaining pilots stay here in the control room,"

"Agreed," said Jonathan. "Alright, I'll contact the ship. While I'm at it, Captain Lefina, you better leave now along with your crew and the ATX team,"

(scene change)

Back at the Golden Roar's side, the ship was receiving damage continuously from the Shades. Things did not appear to be good for the crew of the Golden Roar. "Dude, this is totally freaky! Are we gonna survive this?" said Calua.

"We're doomed! We're all going to die!" said a Kurvaz soldier in panic.

"Calm down!" Gren said. "We cannot give up yet!"

"Gren is correct! We have to move onward until help arrives!" exclaimed Merveille.

"Miss Merveille, we're approaching something that is just ahead of us!" said the crew member at the radar. "It appears to be a group of premises!"

The crew member's words were right as everyone in the control room could see a large number of buildings ahead of them. Seeing them, Gren said, "This is not good! If we approach those buildings we could be endangering them right now!"

""You are correct. We will have to steer away from them," said Merveille.

"Miss Merveille, someone has received our distress signal! On top of that, I am identifying a large battleship heading our way from the premises in front of us!"

"Is it another enemy?" asked one of the Kurvaz soldiers.

The battleship which was mentioned by the Golden Roar's crew member was approaching the ship itself. The battleship was none other than the Hiryuu Kai. Out of the Hiryuu Kai came the ATX team, Katina Tarask, Tasuku Shinguji, Leona Garstein and Russel Bagman in their respective robots. Captain Lefina and her assistants, Sean Webley and Eun Hyojin, began contacting the Golden Roar.

"This is Captain Lefina of the Hiryuu Kai. We're currently providing assistance to defend your ship from the aliens surrounding it," Captain Lefina stated. "While we do that, could you please state your name, rank and which faction you belong to?"

Merveille, who heard the message, replied, "My name is Merveille Million. I am a researcher of the Kurvaz Hunter's Guild and do not belong to any faction,"

"You don't belong to any faction? Not even the Earth Federation and Divine Crusaders? And what is the Kurvaz Hunter's Guild?" asked Lefina.

"I know nothing of those factions. And about the Kurvaz, it's complicated. I will explain everything after we have resolved this battle," said Merveille.

"Alright, if you say so," said Lefina.

"This is quite odd. Are the people we're saving actually from another world?" stated Sean.

"Let's not make assumptions right now. We must focus on the battle," Saying this, Lefina began instructing the Hiryuu Kai's PT pilots to fight the Shades.

"Hiryuu Kai to Octo squad and ATX team. Eliminate all of the black beings you see while protecting the ship. Do not let the beings deal further damage onto the ship,"

"Roger!" the pilots replied.

Katina charged towards a bunch of Shades in her Gespenst, followed by the ATX team, Russel, Tasuku and Leona. "Let's heat things up, everyone!" exclaimed Katina to her squad. Saying this, Katina started to pound through a number of Shades with a single Jet Magnum attack. Russel and Leona fired their PTs' rail guns toward the Shades while Tasuku hammered the Shades with the Giganscudo Duro's fists. Kyosuke and Excellen fired the Alt Eisen's Claymores and Weisritter's Oxtongue Rifle respectively. Bullet and Kusuha attacked the Shades with the Grungust Type-3's Boost Knuckles.

The crew of the Golden Roar witnessed the PTs battling the Shades. They were amazed at how well they fought. "This is amazing! We'll be able to get out of this mess in no time!" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers.

"I hope that will be the case," Gren said smiling.

"Dude, those robots are totally cool!" said an excited Calua.

"And flashy too!" Opera stated in a flirty tone.

"I must admit they are impressive," Merveille said with a smile. She then added with a normal look on her face, "Aside from that though, we should focus on the current battle,"

"Merveille's right. Hopefully, we'll be able to get out of this situation alive," stated Beluga.

The battle continued with increasing intensity. It appeared that there was no end to the Shades. No matter how many of them the Golden Roar and the Hiryuu Kai's crew destroyed, more of them appeared out of nowhere and attacked relentlessly.

"D***, there's too many of them!" Tasuku said while slowly feeling annoyed by the overwhelming number of Shades.

"Just where the h*** are these things coming from?" exclaimed Katina.

"The source of these beings must be here somewhere," Kyosuke stated.

"But, where exactly is the source?" asked Kusuha.

"Wherever it is, we can't give up now! If we do, not only will we fail to save that golden ship, the institute will be attacked!"

"Institute?" Merveille asked via the communication system after hearing Bullet's words.

"The Tesla Leicht Institute," Captain Lefina said. "It's the group of buildings in front of your ship, Miss Merveille,"

"I see. I suppose they are research facilities?" said Merveille.

"You are correct, Miss Merveille. This may not be the right time to talk about them but..."

"Captain Lefina!" Russel's voice interrupted Lefina. "A large group of the black beings are headed towards the institute!"

"What?" Sean exclaimed in surprise. "They're going to attack the institute?"

"They're moving real fast! We'll never be able to reach those beings in time to stop them!" shouted Katina.

All who heard Katina's words over the communication system were shocked. "Captain Lefina, we must do something!" Sean said.

"It's too late! They're near the institute already!" Eun exclaimed.

"This is really bad!" said Excellen.

Everyone saw the Shades who were about to attack the institute. Just as they were about to do so, they were obliterated by what appeared to be a large laser beam. The crew of the Golden Roar and Hiryuu Kai were surprised upon seeing what happened. Soon, they saw who fired the beam. It was the Hagane accompanied by the SRX team in their PTs and the Asmodeus.

"The Hagane!" Eun said with a smile on her face. "The institute has been saved!"

The Golden Roar's crew were happy to see the Asmodeus. "Dude, it's the Asmodeus!" said Calua cheerfully.

"Wonderful! It's so good to see our dear Red, Chocolat and Elh again!" Opera said happily.

"It's also good to see another battleship assist us," Merveille said smiling. "It must be allied with the Hiryuu Kai,"

"Indeed it is good," Beluga said with a smile.

Captain Tetsuya began contacting the Hiryuu Kai's crew. Red, Chocolat and Elh made contact with the Golden Roar. "Greetings, Captain Lefina. I'm glad my crew managed to reach here in time,"

"Captain Tetsuya! It's good to see you!" Sean said.

"It's good to see you too. Jonathan told me everything that happened at your side. Regarding the golden ship you're defending, it's allied with the orange ship accompanying us,"

"You mean that ship with the propellers at it's front next to the Hagane?" Captain Lefina asked.

"Yes, we'll explain how we came across it later. Right now, we should fight," After Tetsuya spoke, he then said to the SRX team, "SRX team, engage all of the Shades you see! Don't let any of them attack the golden ship and the Tesla Leicht Institute!"

"Roger!" the SRX team replied. The team began to attack the Shades. As the battle continued, Red, Chocolat and Elh talked with the Golden Roar's crew.

"Good to regroup with you right now, Merveille!" Red said.

"Yes, you just came at the right time," replied Merveille.

"What happened?" asked Elh.

"We were travelling in this desert like area when the Shades attacked us. Those monsters bombarded us from all directions. But, thankfully, we had some flashy PTs come to our aid!"

Opera spoke in a flirty tone as she mentioned the PTs. "We were like going through a war zone, dude! If it weren't for those PTs we wouldn't have survived," said Calua.

"Glad to hear that," said Red. "Well, for the time being, let's leave the Shades to the PTs. We'll just have to stay in our own ships until we're needed,"

"That's correct. At the same time, we have to find the source of all the Shades that are present right now," said Merveille.

Just then, an explosion occurred at one part of the Tesla Leicht Institute much to everyone's shock. "What now?" Katina said.

"The institute's under attack?" Bullet asked.

At that moment, a message was transmitted to the Hagane and Hiryuu Kai. Everyone was able to hear the message as the communication system was not set to private transmission. It was a message from Jonathan.

"Captain Tetsuya, Captain Lefina! The institute's in trouble! It's under attack and we can't find whatever's attacking the institute!"


	8. Chapter 7: Two Newcomers

"You can't determine what's attacking the base? How can that be?" Tetsuya asked in surprise.

"It sounds ridiculous but, our radar is not picking up anything!" replied Jonathan.

"How is this possible?" Rishu asked.

"Director Kazahara! I'm identifying two unknown objects flying towards the institute at a high speed!" said the staff member handling the radar.

"Are they enemies?" asked Kai.

"I don't know, Major, but... Huh? What's this? They're robots! And they're smaller than PTs!"

"What's that you say?" asked Gilliam.

Sure enough, there were two robots flying towards the Tesla Leicht Institute. They were about twice the size as Red's Dahak Mk2 and looked like four-legged dinosaurs with wings. One was white in color and had light blue linings all over it's body. The other was black with light purple linings drawn on it's body. Both of the robots were piloted by anthropomorphic beings, which were dogs. The dog piloting the white robot, a male, had white fur and wore a white trench coat with a white skin tight suit with blue lines underneath it. The pilot of the black robot who was female and had brown fur wore a black skin tight suit with purple lines. She even wore a black long skirt with purple lines on it.

As soon the two dinosaur-like robots began nearing the institute, the white dog pressed a button on the controls of his robot. With that, he broadcasted a message to the Hagane, Hiryuu Kai, Asmodeus, the PTs present in the current battle and the Tesla Leicht Institute.

"To all you people fighting like s*** here, listen up and listen well," the white dog spoke in a boastful tone. "If you want to have your sorry a***s saved, you all are going to do as I say right now,"

"What's with this guy?" Carla asked, looking slightly irritated.

"Who are you? Could you and your partner please identify yourselves?" asked Jonathan.

Merveille, who heard the conversation, suddenly frowned. She felt as if the white dog's voice was very familiar. Too familiar in fact, she thought. Merveille started to think of who was speaking. However, she shook her head a little to forget the thought and concentrate on the battle with the Shades.

The white dog replied to Jonathan's question, "I'm afraid I can't do that, pal. Now's not the time, see. Now, to save all of your sorry butts, I'm going to show all of you who's attacking the institute right now,"

"What are you talking about? We can't see the enemy at all! How are you going to show them to us?" Katina said.

"Just watch," Saying this, the white dog along with the brown dog flew over the institute. He then pressed another button on his robot's control panel. At that moment, a light blue wave of energy was released from his robot's body. It slowly flew over the institute much to everyone except the two dogs' surprise.

"Now, look closely at the institute," Hearing the white dog's words, everyone scanned the institute's surroundings with their radars. Soon, they detected and saw three monstrous figures become visible at the institute, each of them being at one area of the institute. These figures were black just like the Shades. They resembled dragons and were clawing through anything they saw. The figures were about twice the size of Red's Dahak.

"What in the world are those things?" Tasuku asked, shocked.

"Whatever those things are, they spell trouble for the institute," said Kyosuke.

Inside the institute's control room, everyone started to look worried. "We've got to launch out in our PTs now before those things destroy this place!" Arado said.

"We cannot do that. If we fire our PTs' weapons at those beings, not only will we destroy them but we will be doing considerate damage to the institute," said Elzam.

"Then , what're we supposed to do? Just sit here and watch this place get battered up?" Carla exclaimed.

"We'll just have to send soldiers out to protect the institute," Jonathan said. He then ordered one of the control room's staff, "Send an order to all soldiers here to engage with the monsters immediately!"

Merveille who heard everyone's words along with everyone else began to speak to Jonathan. "In that case, let my crew provide assistance in fighting the monsters,"

"You're going to help us?" asked Tsugumi.

"But, if they assist us they'll be forced to fire their weapons at the institute!" Seolla stated.

"I understand your concern. However, there is nothing to worry about," replied Merveille.

"She's right, everyone," said Tetsuya. "In fact, our friends in the orange ship here would give some help too,"

"You bet, captain!" Red said.

"We are going to lend a hand as a well," said the brown dog piloting the black dinosaur-like robot.

"Exactly how are all of you going to help us?" Rishu asked.

"You'll know soon. Have everyone focus their radars at the monsters' locations," said Merveille. She then ordered one of the staff in the Golden Roar's control room, "Move towards the institute! We shall launch our robots once we arrive there!"

"We should move out immediately, Lady Opera," said Gren upon hearing Merveille's words.

"Of course, my dear Gren," Opera replied. She then closed her hand fan and said in a sassy tone to Gren, Calua, Beluga and the eighteen Kurvaz soldiers, "Alright, boys. Let's show those monsters the power of the Kurvaz guild!"

"Yes, Lady Opera!" said the Kurvaz soldiers. With that, Opera, Gren, Beluga and the soldiers headed to the hangar to pilot their robots. At that moment, the Golden Roar was steered towards the institute at a high speed. Even the Asmodeus headed towards the Golden Roar's destination. The others watched the two ships fly towards the institute.

"What're they doing?" Ryusei asked. "Aren't they making a move yet?"

"Patience, they'll surely do something," Raidese stated.

"We'll just have to hope for the best now," said Latooni.

The Golden Roar and Asmodeus were nearing the institute. At that moment, Merveille contacted Red, Opera and her company as well as the white and brown dogs. "Here is the procedure for the current operation. We will split into three groups, each one engaging one of the Shades attacking the institute. The first group shall be made up of Opera, Gren, Calua and six Kurvaz soldiers. The second will compose of Red, Beluga and six more soldiers. As for the third..."

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be just me and my partner here," the white dog added. He then said boastfully, "And we don't need your crappy soldiers. The two of us is just enough to destroy our target,"

"Hey, are you underestimating us?" asked one of the Kurvaz soldiers angrily.

"Watch your mouth, you mongrel!" said another soldier.

"Calm down. Now is not the time to argue," Gren stated calmly.

"Well, do as you please, then. The remaining six soldiers can join Opera's group," Merveille said to the white dog.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with," replied the white dog.

"Miss Merveille! The enemy is coming to intercept us!" a member of the Golden Roar's control room staff contacted Merveille.

"Darn! We've got to move fast!" exclaimed Red.

The Shades that fought with the Hiryuu Kai and it's PTs flew towards the Golden Roar and Asmodeus. Suddenly, the ATX and SRX teams' PTs intercepted them quickly. "Go, on! We'll cover you!" Ryusei exclaimed to the Golden Roar and Asmodeus.

"Thanks, Ryusei!" Red said.

"We're nearing our destination, Red. We should go to the Dahak now," Elh said.

"Alright, Elh. Let's do this!" Saying this, Red and Elh went to the Asmodeus's hangar. Soon, the Asmodeus and Golden Roar arrived at the Tesla Leicht Institute stopping in mid-air upon the two ships' arrival. By that time, Red and Opera along with their respective company were preparing to be dropped down to the institute in their robots.

"We are going to commence the operation as planned. Are you all ready?" Merveille contacted Red ,Opera and the white and brown dogs.

"Anytime, Merveille!" replied Red.

"We're all set, Merveille, dear!" Opera replied in a sassy voice.

"Just so you know, me and my partner are going to kill our prey first! Later, losers!" the white dog said as he and the brown dog flew their robots towards one of the Shades attacking the institute.

"He's quite the arrogant person isn't he?" Beluga asked.

"Let's ignore him for a while. For now, the mission begins!" stated Merveille.

The doors of the Golden Roar and Asmodeus's hangars opened. "Brother, you and Elh be careful out there!" Chocolat said to Red as the latter who is accompanied by Elh and is piloting the Dahak Mk2 prepared to jump down to the institute.

"Don't worry, sis! Elh and I will be careful," replied Red. He then added, "You ready, Elh?"

Elh replied with a nod, "Yes,"

"Then, here we go!"

With those words, Red jumped down from the Asmodeus's hangar in the Dahak Mk2. Opera, Gren, Calua, Beluga and the Kurvaz soldiers jumped down from the Golden Roar's hangar in their robots at the same time as Red's descent. Soon, a robot army landed in front of the institute. The Dahak Mk2 was in front of the army with the Tiamat, Mephisto, Overmephisto and Salamander behind it. The Kurvaz soldiers who were piloting gray-colored mass-produced versions of the Mephisto stood next to Opera and her company.

"You guys all set?" Red asked those who were with him.

"Oh, yes we are, honey bun!" Opera replied.

"We're ready to rock, dude!" Calua stated with a determined look on his face.

Gren said in his usual calm voice, "We shall commence the mission right away,"

"Alright, then! Let's charge forward!"

"Yeah!" the Kurvaz soldiers shouted upon hearing Red's words.

With that, the group carried out the mission as planned earlier. Opera, Gren, Calua and twelve soldiers went towards one direction. Red and Beluga along with six more soldiers went towards another.


	9. Chapter 8: Defend the Institute!

The dragon-like Shades attacked the Tesla Leicht Institute with ferocity. The institute's military personnel who were stationed at the areas being attacked stood no chance against them. Bullets seem to be ineffective on the monsters. Also, any soldier who got in the monsters' way were either mauled to death with their claws or torched alive with fireballs from the monsters' mouths.

At one area, a Shade blasted the soldiers with fireballs continuously, making them having difficulty in approaching the monster to fire their guns at it. The soldiers who were hit by the fireballs were either sent flying into the air or burnt alive. Things looked very bleak for the soldiers.

The Shade spit out another fireball from it's mouth towards a group of soldiers. The soldiers thought they were done for until what appeared to be a purple crystalline blade intercepted the attack. Soon, the white and brown dogs appeared and rammed the Shade with their robots from opposite directions causing it to be stunned. The duo then hovered high up in the air preparing to fight the Shade.

The soldiers were surprised upon seeing the two dogs and their robots. It was clear that they had never seen beings like the dogs and the robots they piloted. One of the soldiers asked the two dogs, "Who are you two? Are you our allies?"

Hearing this, the brown dog said, "Our names are of no importance to you right now. More importantly, you soldiers should eliminate the current threat here, right?"

Just then, the Shade recovered from being stunned and let out a load roar. The white dog then said to the soldiers, "You heard my partner here. Now, you humans have two choices. Beat the crap out of that monster and live to see your loved ones or stay there like sitting ducks and DIE!"

(scene change)

At another area, soldiers were firing their weapons at the Shade continuously. Some of them threw grenades at the monster. Unfortunately, despite the grenades' destructive power, they were ineffective against the Shade. The Shade sent soldiers flying into the air with it's claws. In fact, the more soldiers that tried to fight the Shade, the more of them that flew into the air.

"Keep firing! Don't give up!" shouted one of the soldiers who was accompanied by a few more soldiers.

The Shade turned towards the soldier who spoke and his companions and charged towards them. Once it was in front of them, the Shade prepared to sweep them away with one claw. Suddenly, as the Shade was about to attack, something hit the monster at it's side and exploded. The monster's movements were halted for a brief period. Then, the soldiers that were about to be attacked were grabbed by what appeared to be two long red robotic arms.

Apparently, Beluga had arrived in his Salamander and fired a bullet from his robot's weapon at the Shade. Red and Elh were with him in the Dahak which transformed into the Type C. While Beluga's attack temporarily stunned the Shade, Red quickly had the Type C extend it's arms to pull the soldiers towards the Dahak. The six Kurvaz soldiers accompanying the Dahak Mk2 and Salamander proceeded to fight the Shade by firing machine guns equipped to their robots.

"You guys okay?" Red asked as he put the soldiers down in front of his robot.

"Wha? What are you?" exclaimed one of the soldiers in shock.

"Don't be alarmed. We're here to help!" Elh said to the soldiers.

Beluga came up to the soldiers in the Salamander. "You people should stay away from that monster," he then said to them. "It's too dangerous for humans to fight it,"

"What are you saying? Are you asking us to retreat?" asked another one of the soldiers.

"He's just saying that you shouldn't force yourself! Anyway, don't worry! Just leave the situation to me and my friends here!" said Red to the soldiers. Red then steered the Dahak towards the Shade and added, "Beluga, give me a hand!"

"Roger," Beluga replied. He then continued while readying the Salamander's weapons, "Salamander, eliminating the target!"

(scene change)

In the final area, the Tesla Leicht Institute's soldiers fought the Shade with unwavering courage. Some of them climbed onto the monster to fire their weapons at it and pierce the monster with knives. The monster shook those soldiers off ferociously. The Shade also violently mauled any soldier that attempted to approach it.

"D***! Nothing's working on this monster!" shouted one soldier who was firing a machine gun at the Shade.

"Well, let's see if that thing can eat this!" said another soldier who aimed a bazooka at the Shade's head. The soldier then fired the bazooka. His shot hit the monster's head at point blank range. An explosion was formed from the shot forming a smoke screen. At that moment, there was no movement from the Shade and the soldiers ceased fighting to assess the situation.

"Did we do it?" one soldier asked.

Suddenly, the Shade charged out of the smoke screen towards the soldier with the bazooka. "D*****, it's still alive! Shoot it down! Kill it, kill it!" shouted the soldier as more soldiers ran to his side and fired their guns at the Shade. The Shade readied it's claws while running. Just then, Gren who had just arrived, had the Mephisto throw explosive kunai towards the Shade. The kunai exploded upon coming into contact with it causing the Shade to stagger backward.

The soldiers turned around and were startled by the presence of Gren, Opera, Calua along with the trio's twelve Kurvaz soldiers. Gren gave a command to the Kurvaz soldiers before he, Opera and Calua tended to the human soldiers.

"All units proceed to engage the Shade! Try not to have it kill too many soldiers here!"

The Kurvaz soldiers understood Gren's order and fought the Shade. Once Opera, Gren and Calua tended to the human soldiers, one of the soldiers said, "I don't know what you things are but, thanks for saving our lives,"

"Hey, no problem, buddy. By the way, I'd prefer it if you called me Calua, dudes," Calua said in a cheerful manner.

"What are you guys anyway?" asked another one of the soldiers looking curious.

"Explanations can wait. More importantly, are you all alright?" Gren said to the human soldiers.

"We're fine. But, we're having a hard time with the monster. Nothing seems to scratch it! Not even a bullet or any other form of ballistics could hit it!"

"Well isn't that quite a bother," Opera said while fanning herself with her hand fan. "Nevertheless, we shouldn't give up now. Right, boys?"

"Correct," Gren said. He then told the soldiers, "Let us help you protect this place,"

"Sure thing, pal. We'd be glad to have your help here," said the soldier with the bazooka. He turned to the other soldiers and added, "Let's go, guys!"

The human soldiers then went to join the Kurvaz soldiers to fight the Shade. Seeing this, Opera closed her fan and said, "Well, then, Gren, Calua, shall we go?"

"Yes, Lady Opera," Gren replied as he readied the Mephisto for battle. "Commencing the operation,"

"Alright!" Calua exclaimed while readying his OverMephisto. "Let's rock, everybody!"

(scene change)

Those who were in the Tesla Leicht Insititute's control room saw in the radar Red, his friends and the white and brown dogs fight the Shades. The crew of the Hiryuu Kai and Hagane even saw them.

"What are those robots?" Katina asked upon seeing Red and his companion's robots.

"I've never seen such machines before," Jonathan said.

"They look similar to Personal Troopers although they're much smaller," Filio remarked.

"And their pilots do not look human. Perhaps they're denizens from another world," stated Lamia.

"Amazing..." Arado commented on the robots. While Jonathan, Filio, Lamia and Arado spoke, Zengar fixed his eyes onto Gren's Mephisto. He was a little surprised that to see that the Mephisto was capable of extending it's sword, an ability similar to the Dyzenguar's Zankantou.

Elzam noticed Zengar looking at the Mephisto and said to him, "You seem to be interested in that blue robot. Is something the matter?"

"There's something about that robot," Zengar replied.

"What is it?" Elzam asked.

"It's sword... It's similar to the Zankantou. And the way it's wielded is also close to how the Zankantou is wielded,"

(scene change)

At the white and brown dog's side, the white dog engaged in close combat with the Shade. His robot had two laser blades emitted out of it's front legs which clashed with the Shade's claws repetitively. The brown dog flew around in her own robot, examining the situation.

"Hey, aren't you going to help your friend?" one of the soldiers asked the brown dog.

"There's no need to for now. And by the way, he's my brother," replied the brown dog.

"Hey, this is no time for talking!" the white dog exclaimed towards the soldier. "It's either you fight now or die!"

"Regarding the current situation, do you need any help now?" the brown dog asked the white dog.

"Of course not! I can handle this weakling myself! I'm the ultimate being after all!" replied the white dog in a harsh tone.

"Are you sure?" asked the brown dog in response.

"I told you I don't need your help! Just stay at wherever you are and-"

The white dog was about to finish speaking when the Shade lashed a claw out towards his robot's head. The white dog quickly evaded the attack by flying his robot backward. Then, he said to the brown dog, "Alright, alright! I do need help now! You hold this weakling in place! I'll finish him off!"

"As you wish," Saying this, the brown dog had her robot hover in mid-air. She stood up on her cockpit and was holding a golden staff with a four leaf clover shaped design at it's end. The brown dog then held the staff in front of her and looked at the Shade at the same time. While holding the staff, she said two words.

"Bind him,"

With those words, a pool of what appeared to be darkness appeared under the Shade's feet. The Shade and the soldiers were surprised upon seeing the pool of darkness. Suddenly, thin arms of darkness emerged out of the pool, wrapping themselves around the Shade. The Shade was unable to move and let out an angry roar while attempting to free itself of it's restraints.

Seeing this, the white dog exclaimed, "Ha! What a weakling! Now, it's my turn!" The white dog made his robot summon several light blue crystalline blades which hovered next to it.

"Get him!" the white dog shouted once the blades appeared. The blades flew towards the Shade and pierced themselves into the monster's body. The Shade roared more angrily upon being pierced. A few seconds later, the blades emitted steam and at that moment, the Shade's movements were slowed down. The Shade let out roars of pain and couldn't struggle to break it's restraints. The soldiers, seeing this, stopped firing their guns and wondered what was going on.

The white dog laughed at the Shade and said, "How do you like that, weakling! Those blades induce heat into your body and will roast you alive from your insides! Now that you're so weak..."

As the white dog spoke, he readied his robot's laser blades. He then charged towards the Shade and shouted, "...just DIE already!" The white dog slashed past the Shade with the blades forming an X-shaped slash mark on the monster. Soon, the monster exploded and perished.

(scene change)

Meanwhile, at Opera's side, the Kurvaz were fighting the Shade with their best efforts. The Kurvaz soldiers charged towards the monster, piercing the Shade with their robots' daggers relentlessly. The Shade kept knocking the Kurvaz soldiers into the ground but they still got up and fought bravely. Opera fired her Tiamat's laser at the Shade while Gren and Calua tried to find and opening to attack.

At one point, Calua ran towards the Shade and struck it with the OverMephisto's halberd. The Shade was unaffected by the blow and punched Calua's robot. The OverMephisto flew backwards and crashed onto the ground next to Opera's Tiamat.

"Calua!" Gren shouted as he ran to the OverMephisto. Upon reaching Calua, he added, "Are you alright?"

"Hey, I'm fine, dude. It's no biggie," Calua replied as he had his robot get up.

"This monster is quite persistent!" Opera commented about the Shade, looking slightly serious.

"It's like what the humans said. Nothing seems to affect the Shade," Gren stated.

"Then, what are we going to do, dude? We can't just give up and let it be!" Calua said.

"Calua is correct," Opera said. She then smiled and stated, "Which is why we should use our secret weapon,"

"Oh, you mean our combination attack?" Calua said excitedly. "Sweet! Let's do it!"

"Understood, Lady Opera. Your orders?" Gren said.

"I'll issue them to the soldiers," Opera said. She then announced to the Kurvaz soldiers, "Boys, I appreciate your hard work in fighting the enemy but, do please stand back. I, Gren and Calua will finish the enemy off. Oh, and have the humans stand aside too,"

"Yes, Lady Opera!" Saying this, the Kurvaz soldiers quickly guided the human soldiers to safety. Once they were done doing so, Opera said to Gren and Calua, "Are you ready, boys?"

"We're ready, Lady Opera," replied Gren.

"Anytime, Lady Opera!" exclaimed Calua with excitement.

"Then, let's go!" Opera pressed a button on her robot's controls as she spoke. The Tiamat launched it's cone shaped mines towards the Shade. Gren and Calua ran towards the left and right sides of the Shades respectively. The Shade's sights were so occupied on the mines that it did not notice Gren and Calua. As a result, it ran towards the mines attempting to knock them aside.

However, the Shade failed to do so as the mines began to attach themselves to it's body. The mines started to jolt the monster with electricity causing it to be immobilized. The Shade could only exert little effort in freeing itself.

"Gren, Calua, now!" Opera exclaimed upon seeing the Shade being restrained.

"Okay, let's do this!" Calua said as he and Gren stopped running. Both of them were now facing the Shade from opposite directions and readied their robots' blades. The duo then charged forward and performed an attack on the Shade together.

"Zankoukan...!" Gren shouted.

"...Nichijou...!" Calua shouted.

"...Iai Giri!" Gren and Calua shouted upon reaching the monster. The two slashed past the Shade causing it to be cut into three pieces. The monster soon exploded and the smoke from the explosion formed the symbol of the Kurvaz guild, marking victory for Opera, Gren, Calua and their soldiers.

(scene change)

Red and Beluga were having a tough time dealing with their opponent. The Shade was preventing them from attacking by jumping towards them and lashing it's claws at them. All Red and Beluga could do was to keep dodging the Shade. In the meantime, the human soldiers were standing by the side of the battlefield under Beluga's orders.

"Whoa, he's fast!" Red exclaimed.

"Don't stop moving! Find an opening!" Beluga said.

"Red, we have to be careful! The enemy's becoming more aggressive!" said Elh who was holding onto Red tight.

"Yeah, I know that! If only we could find an opening!" Red replied.

Suddenly, the Shade stopped moving much to everyone's surprise. To their horror, it then launched a fireball from it's mouth towards the soldiers!

"Red, the soldiers!" Elh exclaimed with a look of horror on her face.

"No good! I can't reach them in time!" Red said as he had the Dahak run to the soldiers.

"Well, I can!" Saying this, Beluga quickly made the Salamander dive towards the ground in front of the soldiers. He fired a few bullets to intercept the fireball but much to his shock, the fireball remained intact.

"Beluga!" Elh shouted in shock.

"He's gonna get hit!" Red's words were proven to be true as the fireball came into contact with the Salamander. Soon, an explosion occurred at the Salamander's spot. Red and the Shade stopped moving. Red and Elh became worried about Beluga and the soldiers' wellbeing.

The smoke from the explosion cleared revealing a damaged Salamander with an unconscious Beluga in it. The soldiers were safe and one of them checked Beluga's condition.

"Oh my goodness..." Elh said her face showing a very shocked look.

"Don't worry! Your friend's just unconscious! I'll get him out of this contraption!" said the soldier who checked on Beluga to Red and Elh.

Red and Elh were relieved to hear of Beluga's condition. Red then turned his attention towards the Shade which started to do the same towards Red. The Caninu felt a little angry that the Shade had to harm one of his friends.

"I'm going to make that monster pay for that," Red stated to himself as he glared at the Shade.

Elh heard Red's words and looked at him. She knew Red was angry at the Shade for harming Beluga. "Are you alright, Red?" she then asked with concern.

"No worries," Red said calmly to Elh. "But, Elh, you better hang on tight now," The Shade prepared to attack as Red spoke. "I'm about to give this monster a rough time,"

"Just be careful okay?" Elh replied.

Red smiled at her and said, "I will," He then turned to the Shade which started running towards him and exclaimed, "Okay, freak, let's rock!"

Upon Red's words, the Dahak underwent a transformation. It became blue all over and it's hands were replaced with what appeared to be fins. This was the Dahak Mk2's Type R form, capable of speed. After the transformation, Red had the Dahak dash to the right. The Dahak dashed so fast it disappeared in a blur. Seeing this, the Shade became surprised and stopped running.

Soon, Red started dashing around the monster at a speed so high his robot left afterimages of itself. The Dahak under Red's command began to attack the Shade by cutting the monster with it's fin-like hands from all directions. The Shade could not counter Red's moves as they were too fast for it to see. After a short while, the monster had several cuts on it's body which glowed a light blue.

The Dahak then stopped dashing around and appeared in front of the monster and charged towards it. Red readied his robot's attack as he approached the Shade.

"Take this! Beat Fang!"

The Dahak slashed past the Shade forming an x-shaped slash mark on the monster. The monster was rendered immobile and soon it exploded. With the deaths of the three Shades attacking the Tesla Leicht Institute, the Shades that were fighting with the Hagane, Hiryuu Kai, Golden Roar and Personal Troopers disappeared.

"Hey, the enemies are disappearing!" Katina exclaimed.

"Alright! We won!" Ryusei said happily.

"I don't know what happened but, the battle's over," Kyosuke stated.

"Well, that means we finally get to have a break right, Kyosuke?" Excellen said in her cheerful manner.

Everyone present at the battle cheered over their victory. However, the white and brown dogs just remained quiet listening to the cheers of victory.


	10. Chapter 9: Briefing

Everyone who was embroiled in the battle to defend the Tesla Leicht Institute save the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups were in the institute's meeting room. The crew of the Hagane and Hiryuu Kai along with the people in the institute's control room from earlier were waiting for the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. While all of them were waiting, Ryusei explained about the Asmodeus group saving the Izu base earlier.

"You're saying that the people who saved the Izu base are talking animals?" Irm asked Ryusei in disbelief.

"And they came from another world?" Seolla asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I know this sounds crazy but, the SRX team has already met them and we can assure all of you that what I'm saying is not a lie," Ryusei stated.

"Are we to assume then that the crew of the golden ship from earlier are the same beings?" said Kai.

"Well, we'll know once we meet them here," Filio said.

Lamia then asked Ryusei, "Are these beings you speak of by any chance related to the extraterrestrial beings we have fought in the past?"

"Oh, come on, Lamia, there's no need to relate them to things like the Aerogaters or Einsts. They're just a group of peaceful beings who happened to save our hides earlier," said Ryusei.

"Besides, they do not know anything about the Aerogaters or Einsts," stated Raidese.

"That's right, Rai," Ryusei said. Just then, the door of the meeting room opened and he added, "Ah, they're here, everyone,"

"Yo, Ryusei!" said Red who came in along with Chocolat and Elh. "This is quite a nice place we're in-"

All the humans save the SRX team were surprised to see the three anthropomorphic beings. Their mouths and eyes were slightly open and for a moment, there was silence. The moment the humans were surprised, Red stopped speaking. He put on a frown while grinning and had a small sweat drop on his head.

"Uh, is something the matter?" Red asked the humans.

Ryusei laughed and said to those who were surprised, "Guys, meet the saviors of the Earth Federation Izu base!"

"You-You're a talking dog!" Ibis exclaimed while pointing a finger towards Red.

"Yeah, sure I can talk and so can my friends here," Red replied with a grin.

"Red, they seem to be shocked seeing us now," Elh stated.

"Of course we are!" exclaimed Arado whose eyes were wide open in surprise. "In fact, what are you things? And WHY can you things talk!"

The SRX team and the Asmodeus group laughed a little after hearing Arado's exclamations. "Relax. I'll clear things up soon. But, first, there are more guests coming," said Red with a smile.

"Guests?" Jonathan asked.

"You don't mean…" Masaki stated.

"Yup," Red replied. "They're actually friends of mine," He turned to the meeting room's door and added, "Hey, guys! It's okay to come in now!"

Soon, another group of anthropomorphic beings came into the room much to the humans' surprise. They were the Kurvaz soldiers and upon entering the room, they gathered in front of the humans admiring the room in awe.

"M-More dogs!" Carla exclaimed.

"Hey, we're not just dogs!" said one of the soldiers. "We're Caninu!"

"Caninu?" Gilliam asked. The humans except the SRX team clearly had no idea what a Caninu was.

"Just what kind of thing is a Caninu?" Yuuki asked the Kurvaz soldiers.

"It's not a thing! A Caninu is-!"

"Now, now, boys," Opera who came in along with Gren, Calua and Beluga interrupted the Kurvaz soldier's words. "Let's not get too excited shall we? After all, these humans do not know much about us,"

"Quite right," stated Merveille who followed Opera and her subordinates from behind. "But, I doubt that the humans are calm enough to understand that," Merveille smiled.

"Yeah, like what she said, dudes!" Calua said cheerfully.

"By the way, do you mind if you all could introduce yourselves?" Irm asked the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. He then added while looking at Opera and Merveille, "Especially the ladies?"

Katina shook her head slowly while looking at Irm. She and the other humans knew that Irm was trying to hit on Merveille and Opera. Merveille replied to Irm's words by saying, "And why do you emphasize that us ladies should introduce ourselves?"

Irm then said in a polite manner, "I try not to forget a woman's name. So, what's yours?"

"Are you trying to flirt with us?" Merveille said much to everyone's surprise.

Opera's eyes widened upon hearing Merveille's words. "My, my, that is so romantic!" she stated in a sassy and excited tone. "I never thought I would be such an attraction here!"

"Now, wait a minute. I think you've got the wrong idea!" Irm said to Merveille.

"On the contrary, that's not true," Merveille smiled. "Did you know that ninety percent of men who hit on women attempt to do so by asking for their names on the pretense that they're being polite? Right now, you are just like one of those men. Your words do reflect those of a polite person's. But, your gestures and facial expressions tell me that you are a womanizer,"

The humans became even more surprised at Merveille's words. "Wow, that man just got rejected," Chocolat whispered to Red, a small sweat drop falling down her hair.

"Yeah…" Red whispered back with a sweat drop on his head. "He got downright rejected,"

"Excuse me, but, are you some kind of scientist?" Filio asked Merveille.

Merveille became slightly surprised and said, "Why yes, my intellect must have given myself away," She smiled upon finishing her sentence. Merveille added, "Well, aside from womanizers, shall we go into introductions now? Then, I will explain about the monsters that attacked this place,"

"Why, yes. Do please go ahead," Jonathan said.

The humans, Asmodeus group and Golden Roar group began to introduce themselves. Opera performed a flashy introduction of herself and the Kurvaz group. Masaki's familiars Kuro and Shiro were cuddled by Chocolat and Opera after being introduced. Once the introductions were made, Merveille explained about Shepherd Republic, the Shades and the two Titano Machina, Lares and Lemures.

After the humans listened to Merveille's words, all of them save the SRX team became terrified. "This is horrible!" Seolla exclaimed. "We have to do something!"

"Yeah, but, what are we going to do? Those Titano Machina things could be anywhere! Finding them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Arado said.

"Indeed this is a serious situation," Elzam stated. "But, we must remain as calm as possible. If we fear too much, we would fail in obtaining a good solution to this situation,"

"Mr. Elzam is correct," said Merveille. "We all must not give in to our fears,"

"Judging by what Miss Merveille is saying right now, our top priority is to look for Lares and Lemures. We will start doing so by devising a method to search for them," Gilliam stated.

"That wouldn't be easy. The information we have regarding the whereabouts of Lares and Lemures are limited," said Tetsuya. "Given the current circumstances, finding the Titano Machina might require us to scour certain parts of the world for them,"

"Wouldn't that be tedious, Captain Tetsuya?" Merveille asked.

"Captain Tetsuya's method is indeed tedious. However, since we have very little information about our enemies, that would be the most logical thing to do," said Sean.

"But, where should we start looking?" asked Tsugumi.

"Perhaps we should start our search at all of the places which have been attacked by the extraterrestrial beings we have faced in the past," Tetsuya answered Tsugumi's question. "We could start with-"

"A sample," Beluga interrupted Tetsuya's words. Everyone looked at Beluga.

"Excuse me?" Tetsuya asked.

Beluga looked at everyone and said, "Shouldn't we just get a sample of a Shade and analyze it?"

"What are you saying?" asked Filio.

Beluga replied, "There's a high chance that some parts of the destroyed Shades from earlier have been scattered across this institute. We need to search this place for those parts and identify where the Shades come from,"

"That's it!" Jonathan said. "You're saying that we should get a sample of the Shades and analyze them to obtain clues about where they're created!"

"It would not be an easy task though. Most of the Shades could have been destroyed without leaving a trace of themselves behind," stated Merveille.

"Then, we should start searching now. The sooner, the better," said Kai.

"There's no need for that," A rude voice came from the door of the meeting room.

Everyone turned towards the meeting room's door. To their surprise, they saw two more anthropomorphic beings facing them. They were the white and brown dogs from the battle earlier. The white dog had a large broadsword behind his back and the brown dog was holding her staff.

The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups looked surprised the most. They knew who the two dogs were for the dogs were none other than Nero and Blanck, the Hybrids who wreaked havoc in Shepherd Republic. Nero and Blanck appear to be the same age as Red now. Upon seeing Nero and Blanck, Red said, "Nero? Blanck? What are you two doing here?"

Blanck said in an insulting manner, "We came to help you maggots," He shifted his attention towards Red. "And I see that you're still the same as ever, brother. Seeing your face again makes me irritated!"

"Hey, Red, you never told us you had a brother," said Ryusei.

Suddenly, Carla exclaimed towards Blanck, "I know you! You're that guy who helped us find out whatever was attacking this place earlier! You're also the one with the boastful attitude!"

"So what if I am?" Blanck boasted. "Well, that aside, you all better respect me and my partner here. We just came to lend our aid not engage in some pointless fight with you scum,"

"And how exactly are the two of you going to help us?" Zengar asked Nero and Blanck.

"Simple, pal," Blanck took out a small zip lock bag with what appeared to be a black sheet in it out of his trench coat. "You guys said you wanted a sample of the Shades, right? Well, this will do,"

"Where'd you get that from?" Jonathan asked.

"We obtained it from one of the Shades which attacked the institute," said Nero. "I suppose it will be of some use to all of you,"

"And I've got a little piece of information which will help you trash bags fight the Shades," said Blanck. "Would you believe me if I told you all that I knew who is the mastermind planning the attacks with the Shades?"

"You know who he is?" Merveille asked in surprise.

"Oh, yes, Nero and I do know he is," Blanck gave Merveille an evil grin. "Right, Nero?"

Nero nodded. She then said, "Allow me to tell all of you the name of the person behind the Shade attacks,"

"What is his name?" Gren asked, his face having an intent look.

Nero replied to Gren's question, saying, "His name is Bruno. Bruno Dondurma,"


	11. Chapter 10: Black and White

The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups began to look terrified. Even Merveille who was normally calm had a look of utmost shock on her face. Opera nearly dropped her hand fan. The Kurvaz soldiers' mouths were open. The humans looked at the two groups wondering what happened to them.

"Nero?" Red said his eyes wide open in shock. "What are you saying? Is this some kind of a joke?"

Blanck said to the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups, "You all heard her. Or are all of you deaf?"

"Th-That is impossible!" exclaimed Merveille.

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Masaki looked at the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. "Why are you all looking so scared now?"

"Do you know who this Bruno is?" Gilliam asked Merveille.

"Know him?" said one of the Kurvaz soldiers. "He's our former boss!"

"What?" Ryusei said in surprise.

"If he's just your former boss, then why are you all so terrified?" asked Kai.

Merveille calmed herself down and said, "Allow me to explain," She proceeded to tell the humans about Bruno, how he tried to use the Shades to attack Shepherd Republic and his demise.

"So, an enemy which you thought was dead has come back to life?" asked Kyosuke.

"That's freaky!" said Tasuku.

"But, it makes no sense. How could Bruno come back to life? It was confirmed that he perished along with Lares!" stated Gren.

Beluga gave Nero and Blanck a serious look. "Be straight with us. Are you sure that Bruno is alive? Or is this just a practical joke?"

"Oh, you starting to doubt me and Nero now?" said Blanck. "Is it because of what the two of us did back then to your home?"

"Get to the point," Beluga raised his voice.

"It is true," said Nero. "The man called Bruno Dondurma is alive and well. How he has returned to life we do not know,"

"Then, how did you know he's alive?" asked Gren.

"It's quite simple. We met him,"

Everyone except Nero and Blanck became surprised. "You did? Where?" asked Red.

"Relax, maggots," Blanck replied. "I'll explain," Blanck told everyone that he and Nero have been travelling to different worlds and dimensions. On one of their travels, they chanced across this world and entered it. While Nero and Blanck explored the world, they met Bruno by chance and ended up fighting with him.

"The old fart was more powerful than we thought he was. He was able to summon Shades on his own. Nero and I were forced to retreat because the piece of trash nearly overwhelmed us,"

"After the fight, you decided to alert someone in this world about the Shades correct?" Lamia asked.

"Well, Nero suggested that so yeah. Well, it's not that I care about doing such a thing anyway," said Blanck.

"What do you mean?" asked Yuuki.

Blanck then said in a rude tone, "You know why I offered my help here? It's just because I've got nothing else to do. In fact, you think I like helping you humans? Humans are nothing but insects that should just be exterminated,"

"What are you saying?" Carla snapped at Blanck. "This is a serious situation we're talking about here! How can you say such a thing? In fact, what's wrong with helping humans?"

"You're one to talk," replied Blanck. "I despise humans because of one reason. In my world, humans use to live in it. But, they ended up destroying each other in wars like a bunch of imbeciles and-"

"Blanck," Nero stopped Blanck from talking. "That's enough. We're here to lend our aid. Not to ignite further conflict,"

"I wasn't talking to you, Nero!" Blanck snapped. "Listen here. If you have a problem with what I'm saying right now, you can join these filthy humans. I'll just get outta here!"

"Hey," Bullet said to Blanck sternly. "I don't know what your problem is but, if you continue to act like that, you're going to end up having people hate you,"

"As if I care! If people hate me so much, I'll just bash them in the head with this!" Blanck pointed his broadsword towards Bullet as he spoke.

"Are you crazy? You'll be a murderer then!" Bullet exclaimed.

"Bullet, please calm down. We shouldn't argue right now," Kusuha tried to calm her boyfriend.

"Calm down?" Bullet said. "He's being a narcissist!"

Hearing this, Blanck walked menacingly towards Bullet while holding his broadsword. "You wanna fight, pal? Cos if it's a fight you want I'll butcher you up right-"

"Blanck," Merveille spoke in a voice loud enough to stop Blanck from moving. She then asked him, "May I ask you a few questions?"

"What is it?" Blanck responded rudely. "I don't wanna waste my breath on you,"

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Merveille replied. "Tell me, how could you and Nero possibly come back to life?"

"Yeah, I thought the two of you were absorbed into the Dahak's reactors back when I fought Tartaros," Red said to Nero and Blanck.

Blanck kept his broadsword behind his back and said, "That's none of your business. I'm not going to spill the beans on some trivial matter like that. I'm only concerned with the Shade attacks in this world,"

"I understand. And do you mind telling me why you and Nero have actually come here?" said Merveille.

Nero and Blanck became confused upon hearing Merveille's question. "What are you talking about, mom? We came to warn you about Bruno," said Nero.

"Yeah, duh! Were you even listening to what I and Nero said!" exclaimed Blanck.

"I did listen to both you and Nero's words. My point is you two coming to warn us were merely part of the reason the both of you are here. Am I not right?"

Everyone except Merveille started to look confused. "Merveille, what are you saying?" said Red. "If you're trying to say that they're going to backstab us-"

Merveille lifted a hand to stop Red from speaking. She then said to Nero and Blanck, "You two came to punish me for what I have done to the two of you right?"

Nero and Blanck each had a look of shock on their face. They became speechless. At that moment, Tetsuya said to Merveille, "Punish… you?"

Ryusei said trying to look amused, "What… exactly are we talking about?"

Silence filled the room for a few seconds. Then, Gren stepped forward and said, "We are talking about Merveille's past," The members of the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups save Merveille were surprised and looked at him.

"Gren?" Elh asked in surprise.

Gren turned to the humans and said, "I do not mean to open up emotional wounds here. But, if you must know what we are currently discussing about, I will explain. However, what I am about to say might shock all of you,"

"We are prepared. Do please go ahead," said Lefina.

Gren nodded. Slowly, he told the story of the origins of the Shades. He explained about Baion and Merveille creating Red, Nero, Blanck, the Titano Machina and the Shades. Gren also spoke about Red's past in the orphanage the latter lived in as a child. Furthermore, Gren said that Blanck's hatred towards humans was because of the humans of the Old Earth's foolishness in fighting each other.

The humans looked at Red, Nero and Blanck after hearing Gren's story. Their faces showed a mixture of sympathy and shock. "Oh, my goodness," Mai said while shaking her head slowly.

Arado looked down to the ground and said in a voice loud enough for Seolla and Latooni to hear. He had a sad look on his face. "They were just like us. Back when we were in The School,"

Merveille chuckled to herself. Her face had a smile which seemed to hide her past. "My, my, aren't we talkative right now," she said.

Hearing this, Gren said, "My apologies, Miss Merveille. I shouldn't have spoken of this subject,"

The room was filled with silence again. No one knew what else to say. After a few minutes, Filio broke the silence. "Well… aside from Merveille's past… I think I'll go and hand over the sample of the Shades to the analysis department. Blanck, do you mind handing it over to me?"

"Whatever, here you go," Blanck walked towards Filio and gave him the sample. Filio then walked out of the meeting room. Right after he left, Tetsuya started to speak.

"I suppose the meeting is over now?"

"Yes," said Merveille. "The meeting is dismissed,"

"Alright," said Tetsuya. He turned to the SRX team and said, "Let's go out,"

The humans walked out of the meeting room. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups stayed in there along with Nero and Blanck. "Well, this is quite a way for our meeting to end, huh?" asked Red.

"Whatever," said Blanck.


	12. Chapter 11: Break Time

The day was getting dark. The repairs on the Tesla Leicht Institute were completed thanks to the institute's workers and the Kurvaz soldiers. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar's robots were placed in the institute's hangar. Inside the institute, some of the members of the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups found things to do. Merveille chatted with Filio and Tsugumi about Personal Trooper models and their specialties. Calua was cheerfully showing the Asmodeus and Golden Roar's robots to Excellen who was curious about them. Gren and Zengar were standing next to the former's Mephisto, talking about the robot's sword and it's similarities to the Zankantou.

Meanwhile, in the Asmodeus, Red and Elh were sitting on one of the beds in the ship's lounge. The two of them were talking about the Earth's environment and technology. Chocolat was not with them as she was checking whether the Asmodeus's engines were in working order.

"This world is really something don't you think, Elh?" said Red. "The technology of this world is almost equivalent to Shepherd Republic's!"

"That's true. I must say that I'm impressed with this world," said Elh.

"I'd say it would be quite interesting if we brought the whole of Shepherd Republic here,"

"Red, that is so amazing. I can imagine the faces of the denizens of the two worlds when they meet each other," Red and Elh laughed a little.

"Say, Elh," Red then said. "You know, this world is quite beautiful,"

"Isn't it? Just like our home," stated Elh.

"You can say that again. So, um… Elh? Mind if I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

Red felt a little shy to speak. "Do you wanna uh… go for a date in this world? Once we're done with the Shades that is,"

Hearing this, Elh hugged Red and placed her face close to his chest. "Aw, you're so sweet, Red. I would definitely like to go with you,"

"No problem, Elh," Red hugged Elh. The two then looked into each other's eyes. They started to put their faces close to each other's. Then, their lips were about to come into contact.

"Wow! What a romantic scene!" An excited and sassy voice suddenly startled Red and Elh. The two of them let go of each other. They looked at the lounge door where the voice came from. Standing at the door was Excellen who looked thrilled at seeing Red and Elh's expressions of love. Accompanying her was Calua who had a smile on his face.

"Hey, Red, I see you and Elh are having a sweet time here!" Calua said with a grin.

"What are you two doing here?" Red exclaimed, his eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.

"Well, Calua wanted to show me the inside of this ship," said Excellen cheerfully. "Isn't he sweet? He was such a gentleman when he offered to take me here,"

"Oh, come on, dude, you don't have to call me that. I was just being nice you know," said Calua.

"And that's your reason for interrupting my time with Elh now?" Red narrowed his eyes and glared at Calua.

Seeing Red's glare, Calua sweat dropped and said, "Whoa, whoa, dude! I didn't mean to interrupt you and Elh. I mean I never knew the two of you were in here!"

"Is that so?" Red gave Calua his typical evil grin. "Because if that's not true, I'll go operate the Dahak and trash you right now!"

"Aw, come on, Red. Aren't you going a little too far in your joke?" said Elh while giggling.

Red laughed and replied, "Oh, yes, Elh. Looks like it sounded a little extreme,"

"Well, you're quite the joker at times, dude," said Calua to Red. "By the way, where's your sister, dude?" Calua looked around wondering where Chocolat was.

"I'm right here," Chocolat came from behind Calua and Excellen. "I went to check the Asmodeus's engines. And it's good to see you here, Miss Excellen!"

"Aw, no need with the formalities. Just Excellen will do," said Excellen.

"Are you here to have a tour of the Asmodeus?" Chocolat asked Excellen cheerfully.

"Why yes, Chocolat. In fact, Calua was the one who brought me here," stated Excellen. Calua nodded with a smile as Excellen spoke. Excellen added with amazement, "By the way, this ship is wonderful! Not only are you able to have a cruise in it but, you made it as a house too!"

"Thank you for the comments, Excellen," Chocolat said, smiling.

"Oh, I almost forgot dudes!" Calua suddenly said. "Dinner's gonna be ready at the institute's cafeteria in half an hour's time!"

"That's great! I'm getting a little hungry right now," said Red. "Did they say what's on the menu?"

"Nope," Calua said. "But, I can't wait to see what they're gonna offer up, dudes!"

"Me too!" said Chocolat with a smile.

"By the way, about your friend, Opera, she's quite the attraction in this place," Excellen said to Red and his company.

"Did something happen to make her very attractive?" asked Elh.

"Oh, yes, that's correct! Some of the men in the institute have fallen head over heels for her! I'll show you!" said Excellen excitedly. Excellen started to lead Red and his company out of the Asmodeus. As they went out of the ship, the group was now walking at the hangar. While they walked, Excellen told Red and his friends about Opera.

"The minute the men looked at Opera, they went to her like birds attending to food! Ah, speak of the d***l, there she is!" Excellen pointed towards a group of men who were standing in front of Opera. Opera was standing in front of her Tiamat and was accompanied by Gren. She was talking to the men politely, not realizing that Excellen along with Red and his friends were walking towards her.

"It's very nice of you all to come to me for a chat. Ah, it's wonderful to get to know all of you," Opera said to the men in a sassy tone.

"Could you please tell us about yourself, Miss Opera?" asked one of the men whose eyes had a small sparkle because of Opera's beauty.

Opera giggled and replied, "Oh, my, you men really make me blush! Very well, I'll tell you all about my wondrous life,"

"Lady Opera, do please refrain yourself from flirting too much with these people," advised Gren.

"Aw, don't be so rigid my dear Gren," said Opera. "It's alright to have fun sometimes,"

"Hey, Opera!" Red greeted Opera as he along with his friends reached her. "I see you're having a fun time here,"

"Well, if it isn't my dear Red!" Opera happily greeted Red and his company. Calua walked towards Opera and stood next to her. He then introduced himself cheerfully to the men who were talking to Opera. As soon as Calua finished his introduction, Gren said to Opera, "Lady Opera, perhaps we should adjourn to the cafeteria. It won't be long before dinner is served,"

"But, of course, my dear Gren. I can't wait to see what luxurious food we're about to be offered!" replied Opera. She then said to the men talking to her, "Well, see you later, sugar plums!" With that, Red and his friends along with Opera and her subordinates walked to the cafeteria.

"You sure had quite a number of fans, Opera," said Red with a smile while the group walked.

"Ah, yes. Men these days can be so friendly with women," said Opera.

"Define friendly, Miss Opera," Chocolat said with a sweatdrop on her head.

"Well, that aside, let's go dig into some good food dudes!" Calua said cheerfully.

(scene change)

Everyone was now seated at the cafeteria enjoying their food and chatting with each other. The Kurvaz soldiers got along well with the humans. Opera was chatting with more men who were "interested" in her. Blanck attracted lots of attention from some humans by eating tremendous amounts of food. Red, Chocolat and Elh were talking with the SRX team.

"This spaghetti is awesome! It's just as good as the one served in my home world!" Red exclaimed after finishing a plate of spaghetti Bolognese.

"I'm glad that you and your friends are enjoying the meals here," said Aya, smiling.

"Indeed we are," stated Elh. She pointed to Blanck and added, "Especially Blanck over there," Red, Chocolat, Elh and the SRX team then looked at Blanck who was about to eat an extremely large spool of spaghetti with a fork.

"Look at him go!" Ryusei said in surprise. "How's his stomach supposed to digest that much food!"

"I see that he can eat much more than you, Red," said Latooni.

"Yeah…" Red said with a sweatdrop on his head.

"By the way, Red, is it ok if I say this?" asked Mai who started looking at Red.

"Uh, what is it that you want to say?" Red asked in response. Mai then started to look sympathetic. She seemed to hesitate a little about speaking to Red.

"About your past… I'm… sorry to hear about it,"

Hearing this, Red kept quiet and blinked his eyes twice. He then said with a grin, "Hey, no worries. But, thanks for saying that anyway,"

The SRX team who heard her sister's words turned to Red. At that moment, Aya said to Red, "I'm sorry, Red, but I want to ask, are you really an experimental being?"

Red looked at his empty plate and sighed softly. He began to look a little sad and replied, "I have to admit it's true although it pains a little to do so. As Gren told all of you just now, I, Nero and Blanck were products of Merveille's experiments. I was deemed a failure and was scheduled by Baion to be eliminated. However, Merveille objected to that. She gave me my Dahak and I escaped to the orphanage in it. The moment I reached the orphanage, all of my memories of my "birthplace" were lost. Well, that was until I met Nero and Blanck again,"

"Do you resent Baion?" Raidese asked Red.

"No," Red looked at the SRX team. "I could but, there's no reason to. Because you see, what mattered to me was I had already found out the truth about myself. Also, Baion performed those experiments to try to make my world a better place. He wasn't really evil. His methods were just misguided,"

Mai frowned and said, "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have brought up this subject," Hearing this, Red suddenly returned to his good nature much to the SRX team's surprise.

"Hey, come on, Mai! Like I said there's no need for you to worry! I mean, yeah, its unpleasant thinking of the past but, we can't just let it weigh us down, right?" Red's face showed a grin.

"That's my brother!" Chocolat praised Red. "You always keep your spirits up despite the saddest of situations!"

"Indeed," Elh smiled and nodded once. She held onto Red's arm lovingly and added, "Right?"

"Hey, thanks for the compliments," Red chuckled. Everyone started to do the same. After everyone chuckled, Viletta spoke to Red.

"By the way, I wanted to let you know that the results of the analysis on the sample of the Shades were up. Filio will be briefing us tomorrow morning about the location of our enemies. Once the briefing is done, we'll head there,"

"Well, that's great! I'm all fired up!" Red exclaimed excitedly. He then asked the SRX team, "Do the rest of us know about this?"

"Yeah, they did. We told them earlier," said Ryusei.

"We should check our equipment after dinner. Tomorrow's the final battle," stated Raidese.

"Got it, Raidese," said Red. "That aside, how about we go chat with the others here?"

"Sure thing, Red. Let's go," Ryusei said while getting out of his seat. With that, Red, Chocolat, Elh and the SRX team went to talk to their friends.


	13. Chapter 12: Reaching the Final Battle

Meanwhile, in space, the stars around the planet Earth shined brightly. Thanks to the SRX team and their friends' efforts in the past, space appeared to be safe from any threat. However, unbeknownst to them, a gigantic sphere which was not far from the planet was floating mid-air in the space sky. The sphere had the same colors of the planet Saturn. Next to the sphere were two gigantic beings that have been cut into half. The beings were wired to the sphere with what appeared to be red and black cables.

The two beings are none other than the Titano Machina, Lares and Lemures. Strangely, the two beings are not summoning any Shades which they normally do when they make their appearance. The Titano Machina appeared to be dead. All seems quiet. But, soon, the silence was cut by a sound that came from the beings.

It was the sound of their eyes glowing red.

(scene change)

The next morning, the SRX team and their friends along with the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups are now travelling into space in their respective ships. Blanck and Nero however, chose to ride on their robots. Everyone was currently approaching the Earth's atmosphere. Their destination according to Filio was the large sphere floating in space. The members of the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups wore space suits as their ships were not fitted with oxygen tanks. Blanck and Nero did not need to wear suits as their robots were equipped with a special device that generates an oxygen field around them.

"I can't believe we're gonna travel into space, dudes!" Calua spoke excitedly to the Asmodeus's crew. "This is awesome!"

"You can say that again, Calua!" Red replied in the same tone. "Wait til Quebec and our friends back at Shepherd Republic hear about this!"

"Is this really your first time travelling into space?" Tetsuya communicated with the Asmodeus and Golden Roar's crew.

"Oh, yes, it is, Captain Tetsuya!" Opera stated in a flirty manner. "No Caninu or Felineko in Shepherd Republic has ever ventured into the dark skies of space!" Opera opened her hand fan while speaking. "But, right now, we're the first of our kind to enter the realm of space! Isn't it marvelous?"

"But, don't the people in your home world have the means to enter space?" Sean asked.

"Shepherd Republic's people have not thought of building transportation for space travels," stated Merveille. "Most likely, it is because they do not see any benefits of going to space yet,"

"Well, speaking of space, you guys better get ready for it now. Once we reach there, you all will start floating in the air since your ships will be affected by zero gravity," Ryusei said to the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups.

"We are aware of that," said Merveille. "In fact, we're nearing space now,"

Soon, the Hagane, Hiryuu Kai, Asmodeus and Golden Roar arrived in space. The minute the ships entered space, everyone in the Asmodeus and Golden Roar save Chocolat and Merveille floated around in the air. Those who floated in the air felt a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Whoa, we're really floating in the air dudes!" Calua exclaimed.

"Find something to hold onto!" Gren stated.

"Wow, we're floating! We're floating! I feel like a bird!" Opera expressed her excitement in a sassy tone.

Beluga was silent. His eyes were wide open in surprise. "Interesting," he then said softly to himself.

"Yahoo! This is AWESOME!" Red shouted.

Elh was having trouble controlling her movements in the air since she wasn't used to the space environment yet. "Red, help me!" Elh said.

Some of the Hagane and Hiryuu Kai's crew who heard the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups' reactions to space sweat dropped. "They really are enjoying themselves…" Arado said.

"Yeah…" said Seolla.

While Red and his friends continued to float around in the air, Nero contacted them. "I wouldn't want to interrupt you all but, we're nearing our destination. You need to be prepared,"

Hearing Nero's words, Red and his friends held onto something to prevent them from floating. Everyone could now see the gigantic sphere which was far away from them. As they looked at it, Red noticed the Titano Machina next to the sphere. He then asked, "Are those two things next to that big ball what I think they are?"

"They are, duh. Those two things are the Titano Machina! And some brute has butchered them into half and connected them to that gigantic sphere!"

Everyone except Nero and Blanck became shocked. "We got to get ready! They could attack any moment now!" one Kurvaz soldier exclaimed as he started to run out of the Golden Roar's control room.

"Hold it," Gren stopped the soldier. "Something's not right,"

"What is?" Calua asked Gren.

"The two Titano Machina are not attacking us at all. They're not sending out Shades which they normally do,"

"That's quite odd. However, we mustn't let our guard down-" Sean's words were interrupted by a voice from the one of the Hagane's control room's staff.

"Captain Tetsuya, I'm getting a dimensional energy reading from the sphere! A portal is opening up on the sphere's surface!" Sure enough, like what the staff member said, a purple colored portal emerged on the sphere. The inside of the portal looked like an endless void.

"That's odd. Are we being welcomed?" said Red.

Elh shook her head slowly and stated, "I doubt that," Elh's words were proven to be true when the same staff member from the Hagane informed everyone regarding Shade activity.

"We're getting enemy readings in front of us! The Shades are appearing in large numbers and are heading towards us!"

"Good work!" Tetsuya said to the staff member. He then said to everyone via the communicator, "Attention! Head to all of your respective posts! As we have planned, defend the Asmodeus and Golden Roar as they make their way to the sphere!"

"Roger!" Those who were robot pilots went to pilot their respective robots. Their plan of advancing towards the sphere is to have the Asmodeus and Golden Roar along with Nero and Blanck enter the sphere itself. The crews of the two ships were tasked to take down Bruno, the master of the Shades. While the two ships make their way to the sphere, all Personal Trooper pilots are to defend them from the Shades' attacks.

Soon, the SRX team and their friends launched out into space in their Personal Troopers. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar moved ahead of the Hagane and Hiryuu Kai. At that moment, the Shades began to approach everyone menacingly. Seeing this, the PT pilots stayed next to the Asmodeus and Golden Roar, preparing to defend the two ships.

"Heads up, maggots! This is going to be h***!" True to Blanck's words, the Shades flew towards everyone fast. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar began to move faster towards the sphere. The PT pilots, Hagane, Hiryuu Kai and Golden Roar fired their weapons furiously.

"Chocolat, try not to get hit!" Red exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Red, I got it!" Chocolat replied as she steered her way through the horde of Shades. In the middle of the battle, the Golden Roar received a transmission from Captain Tetsuya.

"Miss Merveille, save your ship's weapons for your fight against Bruno. You won't want to waste all of your ship's ammunition right now," said Captain Tetsuya.

"Are you sure about this, Captain Tetsuya? What about you?" Merveille asked.

"Don't worry about us. All of you as well as Red, Nero and Blanck are our only hope in defeating Bruno. Now go and end this!"

"Understood," Merveille said. She smiled and added, "Thank you, Captain Tetsuya,"

"You're welcome," With that, the transmission ended. After that, Merveille began to speak to the Asmodeus's crew, Nero and Blanck.

"Everyone, let's charge forward to the sphere as fast as we can. We must complete our mission,"

"Gotcha, Merveille!" Red said. He then said to Chocolat, "Ready for some fast driving, sister?"

"Oh, yes, I am, brother!" Chocolat replied. "You and Elh brace yourselves in the Dahak! We're going to move at full speed now!"

"Alright, then. Bruno, here we come!" Red stated. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar along with Nero and Blanck flew towards the sphere's portal fast. After some time of dodging Shades, Red and his companions entered into the portal. Now, the final battle was closing in onto them…


	14. Chapter 13: The Master's Plan

The Asmodeus and Golden Roar along with Nero and Blanck were now travelling in a tunnel of purple light. All was quiet. There were no signs of enemies approaching them. The Asmodeus and Golden Roar's robot pilots waited in their respective ships' hangars for the battle with Bruno.

"This is odd. I expected us to be attacked by Shades but, there were none coming towards us at all," Merveille said to everyone.

"That may be the case but, we mustn't let our guard down," Nero contacted Merveille via her robot's communicator.

"Yeah, like what Nero said, maggots," stated Blanck.

While Merveille, Nero and Blanck were talking, Chocolat noticed a bright white light at the end of the tunnel. She then informed everyone about the light. "Everyone, look in front of you! There's a white light ahead of us!"

Hearing Chocolat's words, Calua began to ask via his communicator, "Dude, is that some kind of exit you're saying?"

"I don't know but, we'll have to go into it to proceed," replied Chocolat.

"Chocolat is correct. However, we must proceed with caution. There is no knowing what lies beyond that light," said Merveille. After Merveille spoke, everyone started to move faster. Soon, they reached the light which everyone realized was an exit of the tunnel. The moment they exited the tunnel, a great sight greeted them.

Everyone was in an environment which resembled cyberspace. It was blue everywhere and white spheres of data circled around the area. In front of the group was a large island shaped platform with a huge structure on top of it. The front of the structure had a massive door with a drawing of a Shade carved onto it.

"So, this is the inside of the sphere," Red said while he looked at a projection of everyone's current location at his communicator. The Golden Roar group's robot pilots even saw the same projection at their communicators.

"Looks cool, dudes!" Calua commented with a smile.

"I must admit it is fascinating although we're not here to admire enemy territory," stated Gren.

"True," said Merveille to everyone. "Now then, we shall have all of our robots sent to that platform," The Asmodeus and Golden Roar were steered towards the platform. Once the ships reached there, the doors of the ships' hangars were opened. Red, Opera, Gren, Calua, Beluga and the Kurvaz soldiers moved their robots out of the ships to the structure.

"While all of you fight with Bruno, the Asmodeus and Golden Roar will stay here. Return to the ships as soon as you all are ready to leave. And also, we will be listening in to your conversation with Bruno via our communicators," Merveille told the robot pilots.

"Got it, Merveille," said Red.

"We got that loud and clear, Merveille, sweetie," said Opera. Soon, all of the robot pilots were standing in front of the structure's door. All of them looked at it with determination.

"This is it, Elh," Red said. "You prepared to go through this battle with me?"

"Yes, I am, Red," Elh replied. She placed her hand on Red's and added, "Just be careful, okay?"

"No worries. We'll be safe," Red smiled at Elh. After Red and Elh talked, Gren turned to look at the Kurvaz soldiers.

"Men," Gren then said. "Our enemy lies beyond this door. Let us fight not for the sake of the Kurvaz alone but also for the peace of our friends' world!"

"YEAH!" shouted the Kurvaz soldiers.

"Okay fellas," said Red. "Let's finish this once and for all!" All the robot pilots moved towards the door which opened for them. The minute they entered through it, Chocolat wished in her heart that they will be safe. Once the pilots went into the structure, the door closed behind them.

The inside of the structure was quite big. In front of Red and his companions was a metallic cube which was embedded into a wall. Glowing lines of red branched out of the cube on the wall. "What in the name of giu steak is that thing?" asked a Kurvaz soldier upon seeing the cube.

Merveille and Chocolat who saw the cube via their ships' computer screens asked the same question in their hearts. The two of them had a bad feeling about the cube. "I assume that the cube we're seeing is the core of this sphere," Merveille then said. "It may appear harmless but, I doubt that it is unrelated with Bruno,"

"Speaking of Bruno, where is he?" asked Red.

"Fools!" a loud voice boomed from above Red and his friends. "I am here!"

The group started to look above them. To their surprise, a throne floated down towards the ground. Sitting on it was none other than their archenemy, Bruno Dondurma, the man who used the Kurvaz in the past to attain the power of the Shades for himself.

"Bruno!" Red exclaimed with an angry look on his face. "You were the one behind all of this!"

"Yes, I am!" Bruno gave an evil grin. "And I will carry out my plan without fail!" Everyone began to glare at Bruno.

"I never thought that I would see the face of the man who treated the Kurvaz as your pawn again," Gren stated, his face showing the fiercest glare.

"And I never expected to see you again, Gren. You, Calua and your charming Opera whom the both of you are so loyal to," stated Bruno with a wolfish grin.

"Well, thank you for commenting on my beauty, Bruno," Opera said sarcastically. "But, I don't intend on engaging in sweet talk with you especially after you've done so many bad things before,"

"More importantly, Bruno, what are you up to?" asked Beluga.

"Yeah, spill the beans!" exclaimed a Kurvaz soldier to Bruno. "And you better tell us how in Shepherd Republic you came back alive to disgrace us Kurvaz again!" Bruno chuckled fiendishly.

"But, of course, I'll tell all of you what I am planning since you all won't be able to stop me," Bruno leaned forward as he spoke. "You see, the reason I'm here is…" Bruno started to glare towards Red and his friends and added, "…for revenge,"

"And may I ask what you're trying to imply?" Merveille asked Bruno via the Golden Roar's communicator.

Bruno leaned back on his throne and said, "After you scoundrels defeated me in the body of Lares, my soul was bound to the will of the being itself. Eventually, I was reborn thanks to my desire for power. The moment I stepped back into the mortal realm, I underwent a change. I acquired powers which were beyond imagination,"

"Allow me to assume what powers you attained," Elh said. "You were able to summon Shades as if you were a Titano Machina. You were also capable of travelling into various dimensions which is the reason why you are here,"

"Precisely, young Paladin," replied Bruno. "I travelled to various universes all so that I can find a way to crush you pathetic mortals. In my travels, I came across this world. And what a world it was! The technology, the power it held, it was enough for me to exact my revenge on all of you!"

"What do you mean by that, dude?" Calua asked.

"I planned to seize the technology of this world and use it to destroy your home world. I'll make them feel my wrath! So, using my powers I made copies of the Titano Machina and used them to make the very sphere we're in!"

"Then, you started the attacks on the Earth Federation base and Tesla Leicht Institute just so that you could seize the weapons in there?" asked Red.

"Oh, yes, I did. And you and your friends foiling them merely fueled my plan," Bruno grinned wickedly.

"What are you saying? How in the world did we help you commence your deranged plan!" asked a Kurvaz soldier angrily.

Bruno pointed to the metallic cube on the wall and said, "Do you all see this? This is the core of the sphere. Your fights earlier infused it with energy of anger and hatred. When the core is fully awakened with that energy, this sphere will approach the world. Once it enters into that world, it will issue an order for all humanity to kill each other until none of them are left,"

Bruno chuckled wickedly before he spoke further. "That's right! When that is done, I'll be the god of this world! I'll use my powers to take it's weapons, send them to Shepherd Republic and demolish that putrid place with them!"

"You're insane!" Chocolat's voice was transmitted towards Bruno. "Are you saying that you're going to destroy our home world as payback for being defeated by us in the past!"

"If it's to prove my supremacy, then, why not?" said Bruno. Hearing Bruno's words, Red became angered.

"To h*** with that!" Red then shouted. "You want to play God and ravage our home world just because we defeated you before! Don't screw with us! We won't let you do such a thing under a simple reason like that!" The Kurvaz soldiers agreed with Red's words by shouting at Bruno angrily.

"Quiet down!" Gren calmed the soldiers down. He then added, "Bruno, you are drunk on the Shades' accursed power. You have been a thorn in the Kurvaz's side for a long time. It is to this end that we will not hold back against you!"

Bruno became silent for a short moment. He gave another evil chuckle and said, "So be it," Suddenly, the throne which Bruno sat on vanished and he started to float up into the air. A robot which looked like a demonic version of Gren's Mephisto appeared below Bruno. Bruno then floated into the robot's cockpit and activated it's systems.

"If you think you can stop me, then, come! Prove your mettle against me, you who defended Shepherd Republic with your own hands! I, Bruno Dondurma, will make all of you cower before me, the new god of this WORLD!"

"If it's a fight you want, then, bring it on!" Red readied the Dahak Mk2 for combat. His friends did the same thing.

"Let's get him!" shouted a Kurvaz soldier. At his words, all of the Kurvaz soldiers charged towards Bruno's robot.

"You guys, what are you doing! Cool down, dudes!" Calua exclaimed.

"No, don't! You'll all get killed if you charge recklessly!" said Opera in a worried tone. The Kurvaz soldiers continued moving their robots towards Bruno without listening to Opera and Calua. They were determined to defeat Bruno with their hands even if all of them were to die. Seeing the soldiers, Bruno had his robot brandish two broadswords which were enveloped in an evil aura.

"Foolish mongrels," Bruno grinned wickedly. He moved his robot forward to fight. "DIE!"

The Kurvaz soldiers' robots lifted their swords to strike Bruno. However, much to Red and his friends' surprise, their blades never left scratches on Bruno's robot. No matter how many times Bruno's robot was slashed, it's armor remained intact. Bruno fended off his attackers by knocking any of them who charged towards him down to the ground.

"What is this?" Merveille exclaimed upon watching footage of the battle. "That's no ordinary robot! It's able to withstand the mass-produced Mephisto's sword which is quite strong!"

"There's no way a robot like that can survive that many blows!" stated Gren. "Is that robot some kind of monster!" In the middle of the battle, Bruno unleashed a black shockwave around his robot which sent the Kurvaz soldiers' robots flying into the air. The soldiers' robots crashed into the ground much to the shock of Red and his comrades.

"Now do you see! I am supreme compared to insects like you!" Bruno boasted. He looked at Red and added, "I shall ensure that you and your pathetic comrades die a hideous death! Red SAVARIN!"


	15. Chapter 14: Defeat Bruno!

"Get ready, guys!" Red exclaimed. "Bruno is serious about killing all of us!" True to Red's words, Bruno marched menacingly towards him and his friends. Seeing this, Gren started to issue an order to the Kurvaz soldiers.

"All units retreat! Do not engage with Bruno unless you're needed to!"

"What are you talking about, Captain Gren!" a surprised Kurvaz soldier asked Gren. "We came all the way here to beat up that scumbag and you're telling us to chicken out now!"

"I will not allow any more sacrifices!" Gren replied. "Bruno is more dangerous than we thought he was! Now fall back or you won't be able to see your loved ones anymore!" Hearing this, the Kurvaz soldiers moved themselves to the side of the battlefield.

"Are you sure about this, Gren, dear?" Opera asked.

"I'd prefer to minimize casualties. Not leave my soldiers to die in a battle which Bruno does," said Gren.

"That's my Gren!" Opera praised Gren. She then said, "Alright, everyone! Let's start this battle!"

"Got it!" Red moved his Dahak towards Bruno. "Elh, hold on tight!"

"Okay, Red!" said Elh who held onto Red.

"I'll join you in the assault!" Gren ran with Red towards Bruno. "Lady Opera, please cover us!"

"But, of course, sweetie!" Opera stated. "Calua, Beluga, Nero, Blanck, assistance please!"

"You got it, Lady Opera!" Calua pointed the OverMephisto's blaster towards Bruno.

"Understood," said Beluga who aimed the Salamander's weapons at Bruno. Nero and Blanck readied the Pterosabers in their robots.

"Here we come, Bruno!" Red shouted.

"Die, Red Savarin!" Bruno shouted as his robot ran towards the Dahak. A fierce battle began to take place. Opera, Calua, Beluga, Nero and Blanck fired their weapons at Bruno, who skillfully dodged their attacks. The Dahak transformed into the Type C and extended it's arms to punch Bruno's robot. Gren had the Mephisto's sword grow into a massive size and used it to slash Bruno's robot. Despite Red and Gren's fierce attempts to attack, Bruno managed to block the duo's attacks without fail.

The Kurvaz soldiers who watched the battle were filled with awe. They cheered for Red, Opera, Calua, Beluga, Nero and Blanck. In the middle of the battle, Bruno mocked Red's fighting skills.

"You call yourself a hero! You can't even lay a finger on me yet!"

"We'll see about that!" Red exclaimed while having the Dahak's arms extend and grab Bruno's robot's weapons. The Dahak started to charge itself with energy. After charging itself, the Dahak pulled itself towards Bruno's robot, hurling itself towards it's opponent.

"Rocket Dash!" Red's robot rammed into Bruno's at full force causing the latter to stumble backwards. At that moment, Gren swung the Mephisto's oversized sword towards Bruno. Bruno blocked the attack with both of his robot's swords.

"Lady Opera, Beluga!" Gren shouted. Bruno looked at Opera and Beluga wondering what they were doing. The two of them were preparing to launch the Tiamat's laser cannon and Salamander's Buster Cannon respectively. Seeing this, Red and Gren moved aside but not before Gren pushed Bruno's robot towards the Tiamat and Salamander's range of fire.

"Perish, Bruno!" Beluga shouted as he and Opera fired their robots' weapons simultaneously. Bruno crossed his robot's swords forming a black shield of energy in front of it. The shield defended Bruno from the Tiamat and Salamander's attacks by completely nullifying them.

Right after Bruno defended himself, Red had his Dahak transform into the Type G and jump towards Bruno. The Dahak punched the armor of Bruno's robot with sheer strength but the attack did not dent the armor. "Fool! Your attacks cannot scratch my robot's armor! You stand no chance against me!" Bruno boasted.

"Yeah, I might not be able to dent your robot but, I can do this!" Red grabbed Bruno's robot with the Dahak's hands. Much to Bruno's surprise, Red started to perform overhead grapples and smashed Bruno's robot into the ground repeatedly. After knocking Bruno's robot several times onto the ground, Red grabbed Bruno's robot with one of the Dahak's hands and jumped up into the air.

"Take this! Kaiser Hammer!" The Dahak threw Bruno's robot down to the ground with great strength. Bruno's robot bounced off the ground leaving a crack on it. Gren took the opportunity to launch an attack on Bruno while the latter is unable to do so.

"This is the end!" Gren shouted as the Mephisto threw explosive kunai towards Bruno's robot. The kunai came into contact with Bruno's robot and exploded.

"Did we do it?" Elh asked. Everyone watched the smoke from the explosion settle down. Soon, they saw that Bruno's robot had one of it's arms destroyed. The robot's armor was slightly damaged. When Bruno saw this, he became angered.

"What is this? How can you mortals injure my robot, the representation of me, who is a supreme god! That is inconceivable!"

"That's because you're no god, you idiot," Blanck said to Bruno. "You're just a pathetic piece of trash with an inflated ego!"

"No, I am a GOD! I was reborn for that purpose! Don't you dare call me TRASH! I'll delete every single person who deems me as rubbish!" Bruno burst out in anger.

"Well, if you're a god, then, tell us one thing!" Elh exclaimed. "Are you trying to be ruler of Shepherd Republic and plan to reshape it into your corrupted image?"

"I am not CORRUPTED! Yes, I do desire to change our world! Don't you all know? It's full of impurities of all kinds! Corruption, thievery, murder and many more! I failed to use the power of the Shades in the past to remodel our world! But, now, I shall SUCCEED!"

"You are one to talk, Bruno," Opera said. "You claim to call yourself a savior who will make our world better when you have extorted innocents in the past to worship you?"

"If you tell people nicely about things, they may not take them seriously! But, with force, they will!" Bruno snapped at Opera.

"You're just a plain megalomaniac, Bruno!" Red shouted. "Alright, if you think you're a god, let's prove it with a one-on-one match!" Everyone save Red became surprised hearing his words. "It's me you want dead, right, Bruno?" Red added. "If I win, I and my friends will strive to maintain the order in our world one step at a time! If you win, you're free to do whatever you want to us here! How's that? Or would you prefer to chicken out like trash?"

Hearing Red's words, Bruno put on a wicked smile and clapped his hands slowly. "How brave of you, Red," said Bruno. "Very well, I accept your challenge," As Bruno spoke, his robot turned into clusters of data which enveloped him. The clusters of data transformed Bruno into a new form. He was now enveloped in a reddish black demonic aura. Additionally, he had four black robotic arms with red claws that floated behind him.

"I shall have the pleasure of liquidating a runt like you!" Bruno shouted at Red once the former completed his transformation. Seeing that Bruno had transformed, Red started to talk to Gren.

"Gren, take Elh with you and bring her to the side of the battlefield. Have the rest of us stand somewhere and watch my fight,"

"Red, what are you saying?" Elh asked in shock. "Have you gone crazy? You can't just put your life on the line like this!" As Elh spoke, Gren had arrived at Red's robot.

"Elh, let Red go," Gren said. "I can understand what he is trying to say. He does not want to put all of us into danger. Also, given Bruno's current strength, the risk of us getting fatally wounded by him could be high,"

"But, that's reckless, Gren!" exclaimed Chocolat. "Red could get killed!"

"Chocolat, Elh, calm down," Red stated calmly. "Everyone, just believe in me," He looked at Elh and added while touching her cheek, "Especially you, Elh. Trust me. Once I settle this, our world will be safe and don't forget we'll be able to have our date in this world,"

Hearing these words, Elh closed her eyes and said, "Alright, Red. Fight for us," She opened her eyes and added, "But, you better be alive!"

Red grinned and said, "You can count on me, Elh!" With that, Gren took Elh into his robot and gathered with Red's friends at the side of the battlefield. Red started to look at Bruno seriously.

"Sorry for the wait, Bruno!" Red then said. "Let's end this!" While Red spoke, a white light was emitted from the Dahak Mk2. Red started to undergo a transformation. His robot turned into light and enveloped him. Soon, Red took on the form of a human with long orange hair. He had two white robotic arms with green claws floating next to his arms. Also, his legs were covered with white armor and he wore a visor. Furthermore, Red had a white contraption with a blue semicircle on it attached to his back.

"Dude, he used Trance!" Calua exclaimed.

"Looks like Red is deeply committed in fighting for everyone," stated Beluga.

After Red had entered into his Trance form, Bruno said to him, "Interesting. Now then, are you prepared to be sent to the underworld?"

"Sorry, Bruno, but, I don't plan to die today," replied Red. Silence filled the battlefield. Red and Bruno looked at each other. All of a sudden, both of them flew towards each other fast. The moment they were directly opposite of each other, they fought furiously with their robotic arms. Red and Bruno's robotic arms clashed with each other repeatedly at high speeds.

Those who watched the battle felt a mixture of awe and intensity. "Look at them," Elh stated. "I don't know why but I can feel their anger towards each other…"

"So can I," stated Beluga. "In fact, their fists contain that very anger you spoke of,"

"In the past, I have seen many battles with Lady Opera and Calua. None of them would be able to match the intensity of the one we're seeing. It is because in this battle, the forces of light and dark are set ablaze in the souls of Red and Bruno respectively," stated Gren.

As Gren spoke, Red and Bruno started to hit each other with their robotic arms. They withstood each blow no matter how hard they were. At one point, Bruno punched Red in the cheek causing blood to come out of the latter's mouth. Bruno then used two of his arms to grab Red's body and attempted to crush it much to the shock of Red's friends.

Fortunately, Red did not allow himself to be crushed easily. With a loud battle cry, he used his robotic arms to hold the ones that held him. Before Bruno could even start crushing Red's body, the latter had destroyed the arms with a single crush. Then, Red quickly punched Bruno's body repeatedly with incredible speed.

"Inazuma Punch!" Red shouted as one of his robotic arms which was enveloped in light blue energy was about to hit Bruno. Bruno managed to grab the arm with one of his own arms and send Red flying into the air with another. Quickly, Bruno fired red laser beams out of his remaining robotic arms towards Red.

"DIE!" Bruno shouted as he fired. Red managed to sidestep in the air to avoid the beams. However, a beam grazed his right robotic arm, destroying it completely. This did not make Red quit fighting as he started to form a light blue ball of energy in his other robotic arm. Red then threw the ball towards Bruno at a fast speed.

"Spark Javelin!" That was the name of the attack Red performed. Bruno knocked the ball aside with one of his robotic arms making it crash into a wall. At that moment, Red flew towards Bruno fast and attempted to punch him with his robotic arm. The attack was blocked by one of Bruno's robotic arms which shattered from the impact of Red's arm.

Just as Red was about to punch Bruno once more, Bruno grabbed Red's robotic arm with one of his own. Bruno had also held onto Red's body with another one of his robotic arms. The former then proceeded to slowly crush Red's body and robotic arm. "You cannot defeat me, Red!" Bruno shouted. "After all, I am a GOD!"

"Oh, yeah!" Red exclaimed. "Let's see if you can withstand this!" Upon Red's words, a bright blue light emanated from his robotic arm. Those who saw it save Red became surprised.

"You, what are you doing?" Bruno asked.

"I'm just performing the grand finale, Bruno!" Red replied with a grin. He then continued with an angry look, "TAKE THIS!" Red's final robotic arm exploded into blue flames which engulfed the spot where he and Bruno were on. Red and Bruno were sent flying into the air. In the midst of this, all of Bruno's robotic arms were destroyed. Also, both Red and Bruno reverted to their normal forms. Soon, they landed on the ground with a thud and the explosion subsided.

"Red!" Elh screamed in shock after seeing the explosion. Everyone was shocked to see that Red and Bruno were lying on the ground unconscious. But, the two were not in that state for long. They stood up slowly looking at each other angrily. Though exhausted from their battle, the two walked towards each other ready to fight once more.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you, Red! You meddled in my plans long ago. I'll SEND YOU TO H***!" With those words, Bruno ran towards Red while shouting the latter's name with hatred. Red also ran towards Bruno and gave a loud battle cry. Once the duo reached each other, they exchanged blows ferociously. Elh became worried seeing the two of them fight.

At one point of the battle, Bruno grabbed Red's neck with one hand. Red was then choked making him unable to move. "DIE, DIE, DIE!" Bruno shouted as he violently choked Red. In response to Bruno's actions, Red took out his trusty stun gun from nowhere and dug it into Bruno's abdomen. This caused Bruno to let go of Red. Bruno was then lifted slightly up into the air by Red with the stun gun. The moment Bruno was lifted up into the air, he was pointed towards the sphere's core.

"Trying to perform another suicide move like earlier!" Bruno said to Red while grabbing his stun gun. "That will not work a second time!"

"Who said I was gonna do that you old fart?" Red stated. Energy began to charge at the stun gun's tip. Bruno became surprised upon seeing this.

"Hold it. What are you doing?" Bruno asked Red.

Red responded to Bruno's question by saying, "Earlier, you said I'm gonna die by your hand today, right? Actually, YOU are the one who's going to die with the pull of this gun's trigger!"

"Wait a minute," said Bruno. Suddenly, a look of terror struck his face. "It can't be!" Bruno added. "You're going to shoot me into the core?"

"You're d*** right I am, Bruno! Once I shoot you in there with my gun, all this will be over! It's time to pay for your sins!" Red shouted. As Red finished speaking, his stun gun was fully charged with energy.

"No, don't!" Bruno shouted.

"It's too late to beg for mercy, Bruno!" exclaimed Red. "Goodbye!" Saying this, Red pulled the trigger of his stun gun. A large sphere of energy was shot out of it pushing Bruno towards the sphere's core. Once Bruno came into contact with the core, he was slowly absorbed into it.

"No! This cannot be happening!" Bruno cried out in anger. "How could a runt like you defeat me! It's impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!"

"It's because I'm not just fighting with my own power, Bruno! I've also been fighting with the power of my friends who believed in me! A glutton who lusts for power like you would never understand that!" Red shouted.

"It can't be! It can't BE! My world! MY WORLD! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" With those words, the core of the sphere exploded along with Bruno. Hence, this was the end of Bruno.


	16. Final Chapter: A Costly Victory

Bruno's demise had brought joy to the Kurvaz soldiers. All of them shouted out loud in happiness. However, Red, Elh, Opera, Gren, Calua, Beluga, Nero and Blanck looked serious. They were surveying the area for anything suspicious.

"Alright, we did it!" shouted a Kurvaz soldier.

"Serves that Bruno bastard right! He should go to h*** for what he did!" exclaimed another.

"Calm down, all of you," stated Gren. "This is no time to celebrate yet,"

"Why not, Captain Gren?" asked a Kurvaz soldier. "Bruno's dead,"

"Don't forget, boy. This is Bruno we're talking about. For some reason, I felt that his defeat seemed to be too easy," said Opera.

"What do you mean?" Elh asked Opera.

"Opera's saying that Bruno could have something else up his sleeve despite his death. It sounds crazy but knowing him, it's possible," stated Red who approached his friends.

"Come on, Mister Red," said a Kurvaz soldier while chuckling. "Maybe you're thinking way too much about this-" Suddenly, the soldier's words were cut off by the sound of an alarm. Everyone became surprised upon hearing it. They then heard a loud voice in the area.

"WARNING. WARNING. INITIATING COLLISION OF BASE TO EARTH. INITIATING COLLISION OF BASE TO EARTH,"

"Whoa, dudes! What's going on!" Calua asked.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Beluga. As Beluga finished talking, Red and his friends received a transmission from Tetsuya.

"All of you get out of the sphere now! The sphere is currently heading towards Earth at a high speed!" Red and his company became shocked hearing Tetsuya's words.

"What is the meaning of this, Captain Tetsuya!" Merveille asked. "How is that possible!"

"I do not know, Miss Merveille. Right now my group is trying to destroy the sphere with our strongest weapons! However, they do not seem to be working on it!" said Tetsuya.

"But, this can't be happening! The core of the sphere was destroyed!" exclaimed Chocolat.

"What core are you talking about?" asked Tetsuya. Merveille quickly explained to Tetsuya about the sphere's core and Bruno's plan to conquer the world. After hearing her explanation, Tetsuya became shocked.

"That Bruno came up with such a deranged plan?" Tetsuya asked.

"Yes, but that aside, how long before the sphere hits the Earth?" asked Merveille.

"I'm afraid it would take approximately half an hour's time," Tetsuya said in a worried tone. Red and his friends became even more shocked. The Kurvaz soldiers started to fear for their lives.

"This cannot be…" Gren said in disbelief. "We foiled Bruno's plan only to make him have the last laugh?"

Red slammed his fist into the side of the Dahak's seat and exclaimed, "D*****! Then, all we did was for nothing?"

"There must be a way to get out of this situation!" Opera said looking tensed. "We of the Kurvaz cannot afford to die yet!" As everyone voiced themselves out, Blanck and Nero looked at the wall where the sphere's core exploded in. The explosion destroyed the surface of the wall revealing a huge computer circuit. Upon looking at the circuit, a thought struck the duo's minds.

"Calm down, stupid!" Blanck blurted out. "There is a way to solve this problem!"

"Yeah? Then, what's the smartest thing you can think of right now?" asked a Kurvaz soldier.

Nero pointed towards the computer circuit with her staff. "We will have to destroy this sphere. In order to do so, this sphere must be hacked via that circuit to make itself explode,"

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Merveille.

"Well, about that, mom, I and Nero are the only ones capable of doing that. Watch," Saying this, Blanck flew the Srvara towards the circuit. Nero followed him from behind in the Zairita. Once both of them reached it, wires came out of their robots' bodies and attached themselves onto the circuit.

"Our robots are equipped with a built-in system that enables us to hack into any electronic equipment with ease," said Nero as she and Blanck proceeded to do the hacking. "For this particular situation however, it will be difficult. I can sense Bruno's will within this circuit which is trying to resist our programming,"

"How long can you finish the hacking?" asked Gren.

"Around half an hour's time or earlier. It depends on whether we're able to overcome that old fart Bruno's will or not," answered Blanck.

"Try to finish it up ASAP! Then, we can get out of here together!" said Red. Hearing those words, Blanck and Nero started to have blank looks on their faces.

"About that, Red, I'm afraid… that won't happen," said Nero.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Red asked.

"It appears that Bruno's will have bound me and Blanck to this sphere. From here on, it's all up to the both of us to destroy it,"

"What are you saying, Nero? Just try to get rid of it and-" Red suddenly stopped speaking. He and his friends just thought of something. Soon, a look of terror struck their faces.

"Wait a minute…" said Red whose eyes were wide open to Nero and Blanck. "Don't tell me… Don't tell me!"

"I am afraid it is as what you all think," said Nero to Red and his company.

"You two are going to sacrifice yourselves?" an utterly shocked Merveille asked.

"Heh, sucks doesn't it?" Blanck stated. "For an ultimate being like me to die again,"

"Don't do it, you two!" Opera exclaimed to Nero and Blanck in a worried tone. "You're just throwing your lives away for nothing! Think about it! Don't you prefer doing this quick and leaving this place with Red and Merveille who are your family?"

"Shut up," said Blanck. "We're not doing this because they're me and Nero's family. In fact, we are not family. I'm just doing this to keep Red alive. If I and Nero get back alive from this, we can settle our scores with him,"

"Just for a reason like that?" a Kurvaz soldier said aloud. "You're crazy-"

"It's alright," Merveille calmed the soldier down. "I understand Blanck's words," She looked at Blanck and Nero added, "Nero, Blanck, take care of yourselves,"

"Thank you, mom," Nero replied. She turned to Red and said while looking sad, "Brother, take care of mom, okay?"

"Alright," Red nodded, a tear rolling down from each of his eyes. "I'll remember this," Opera started to look tearful while Red was speaking.

"Well what are you all waiting for? Stop mourning for us and get out of here!" exclaimed Blanck. Red wiped his tears away after Blanck spoke.

"Got it! Let's go guys!" Saying this, Red ran in his Dahak towards the door with his friends following him from behind.

(scene change)

Outside the sphere, Ryusei and his friends were doing their best to destroy it. However, the sphere remained intact even after receiving the strongest of blows. As it was being hit, the sphere started to accelerate towards the Earth.

"The sphere's moving faster! If this keeps up, our world will be destroyed!" Aya exclaimed.

"Isn't there anything else we can do other than bombard the sphere with our weapons?" Arado asked.

"Well, what can you think of, Arado? Send our PTs towards it and make them self- destruct?" Seolla exclaimed.

"Hey, something's coming out of the sphere!" said Ryusei. True to his words, two ships came out of the sphere's portal. They were the Asmodeus and Golden Roar. The two ships' crew was in their respective ships' control rooms.

"It's Red and his friends!" stated Tasuku. "Good thing they came out of there!" The Asmodeus and Golden Roar flew away from the sphere to join Ryusei and his company. Tetsuya quickly contacted their crew about the current situation.

"Everyone, the situation is getting worse! The sphere is currently moving faster towards the Earth. At this rate, it would take 15 minutes before it hits the Earth itself!"

"This isn't good!" Chocolat said. "Red, do you think Nero and Blanck will make it in time?"

"Let's just hope so, Chocolat," replied Red. "Let's just hope so,"

"I'm sorry but what about Nero and Blanck? Are they doing something?" said Tetsuya.

The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups became silent for a slight moment. "About that, Captain Tetsuya…" Merveille said. "…it's a sad story," Merveille told Ryusei and his friends about Nero and Blanck's plan to destroy the sphere from the inside. Ryusei and his friends became shocked after listening to Merveille's words.

"Is this true?" Carla asked her eyes wide open.

"No way…" Ibis stated. "They're sacrificing themselves to save our world? That's too reckless!"

"As saddening as this is, it's the truth," said Merveille. She began to look sad and added, "Let's pray that the two of them will be successful," While everyone was talking, Kai saw something happen to the sphere. He alerted everyone about what he saw.

"Everyone, look! The sphere! It's slowing down!" Like what Kai said, the sphere was slowing down. Soon, it came to a halt. Then, explosions engulfed all over the surface of the sphere itself.

"Attention! Everyone stay far away from the sphere! It's going to explode!" Tetsuya's words made everyone move away from the sphere as far as they could. After a few minutes, the sphere exploded into clusters of white stars. Seeing the explosion, everyone stopped moving.

"Hey, the sphere's gone," said Arado.

"We… We did it," stated Ryusei who looked surprised.

"Alright, guys! We did it! We WON!" Tasuku shouted excitedly. Everyone else soon became as excited as Tasuku was. Loud cheers were heard over their communicators. In the midst of the cheering, the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups took a moment of silence to mourn for Nero and Blanck.

"Nero, Blanck, thank you. Rest in peace," said Red who looked at the space sky. Once again, space was free from the presence of evil.

(scene change)

A day had passed since Bruno and the Shades were defeated. The Earth was peaceful as it had always been. Mother Nature was not disturbed by anything evil. In a city located in Japan, a group of people were having a great celebration in a Japanese restaurant.

These people were none other than the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups along with Ryusei and his friends. Everyone was enjoying a grand Japanese buffet to celebrate the defeat of the Shades. In the middle of the celebration, they had a victory toast with their drinks.

"Cheers!" they shouted as the sound of their glasses being clanked filled the air. After having their toast, everyone talked happily with each other while enjoying the food.

"This is the life, people! No more Shades, more peace!" said Red. "This is awesome!"

"You got that right, Red!" said Ryusei. "I and my friends owe you and yours one for saving my planet!"

"Hey, no need to owe us, dude!" stated Calua cheerfully. "I mean we all did this together so yeah, you owe us nothing!"

"Exactly," said Gren with a nod.

"Seriously? Well, thanks, guys," said Ryusei. "By the way, Red, what are you and your friends planning to do now that the Shades are gone?"

"Well, for starters, I… uh… am gonna go on a date with Elh," Red nudged Elh lightly while blushing. Elh held onto Red's arm while smiling romantically upon being nudged. "We promised each other to do that so yeah,"

"Well isn't that romantic!" Excellen exclaimed. "Maybe we should do that too, right, Kyosuke?"

"I wouldn't know about that…" said Kyosuke.

"My, my, isn't he a shy man?" said Opera.

"He's like that, Miss Opera. Don't mind him," Bullet's words made everyone chuckle.

"By the way, I heard that you called more of your friends to come eat with us," said Chocolat to Viletta.

"That's correct. They're PT pilots like my team and have helped us fight many threats in the past. Their names are Ryuune Zoldark, Ryoto Hikawa and Rio Mei Long," replied Viletta.

"Speaking of them, they seem to be a little late," said Latooni.

"Well, it's no surprise since the traffic's a little jammed out there," Ryusei said while looking at the entrance of the restaurant. As he spoke, he saw Ryuune, Ryoto and Rio walk into the restaurant. "Oh, there they are!" Ryusei then stated while getting off his seat. "I'll go get them,"

"Do they know about us?" Red asked Ryusei.

"Oh, don't worry, they do," Ryusei chuckled while he walked away from everyone. As soon as he reached Ryuune, Ryoto and Rio, Ryusei greeted the trio happily.

"Hey, Ryusei, how've you been?" said Ryuune.

"Fine, Ryuune. I see that Ryoto and Rio here are well too," replied Ryusei.

"We are. Although we're still shocked to hear that you and some otherworldly friends stopped a sphere from crashing into Earth…" said Ryoto.

"Yeah, they're really not Aerogaters or Einsts are they?" asked Rio.

Ryusei laughed and said, "Come on, don't worry about that. In fact, I'll show you. Come with me,"

"Someone talking about me?" said a voice behind Ryusei. Ryusei turned around seeing Red with a smile on his face. Ryuune, Ryoto and Rio's eyes opened wide in surprise upon seeing Red.

"Ryusei…" Ryoto pointed at Red. "Is this one of your friends?"

"Yup, guys, meet Red Savarin!" Once Ryusei introduced Red, the latter moved towards Ryuune and offered a handshake.

"How do you do?" Red's greeting made Ryuune, Ryoto and Rio even more surprised.

"You can talk?" Rio exclaimed.

"Sure I can," a smiling Red said as he put his hand down. "Anyway, follow me. I'll introduce you three to my friends,"

"Uh… Sure," Hearing Ryoto's words, Ryusei and Red led Ryuune and her company to the duo's table. The moment they reached there Ryuune, Ryoto and Rio were greeted cheerfully by the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. The trio was utterly shocked upon being greeted by the anthropomorphic beings.

"Wh-What are you guys?" Ryuune exclaimed.

"No need to be so shocked, dear. We'll be explaining everything to you soon," said Opera while fanning herself with her hand fan.

"Yeah, dudes! In fact, come on, grab a seat! Come join in the fun!" Saying this Calua pushed Ryuune, Ryoto and Rio to some empty seats next to the Kurvaz soldiers. After that, the three of them were told every single detail about Red's adventure with Ryusei and his comrades.

"I can't believe this…" said an amazed Rio to the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. "So, all of you came to the Earth to see the lives of humans?"

"Precisely," stated Merveille with a smile. "And I must say that our trip here has been quite interesting,"

"But, you know, I feel sorry for your friends who gave their lives saving the planet," said Ryuune to the Asmodeus group. Red and Elh started to look a little sad.

"Well, you don't have to be sorry," said Red. "But, I never even thought that those two would be willing to protect the world with their lives,"

"You need not be sad," Gren said to Red. "Their act showed that they were true heroes,"

Elh smiled and said, "Yeah, you're right,"

All of a sudden, Red brightened up and said, "Anyway, aside from the sad things, I don't think Nero and Blanck are going to die that easily. I feel that they're alive. Somewhere…"

"What do you mean?" asked Ryoto.

"It's complicated. I'll tell you after our celebration," answered Red. Red then grinned and exclaimed, "For now, let's PARTY!"

The Kurvaz soldiers shouted out loud in excitement. Ryuune, Rio, Ryoto and Calua walked to the buffet table to get some food. As they walked, Calua entertained them cheerfully with the history of Shepherd Republic. The rest of the group continued chatting with each other with joy. Some members of the group challenged Red and Elh to kiss in front of the public which the two did.

Outside the restaurant, two spheres of light, one white and one purple, were floating next to it's window. The two spheres appeared to be watching over Red and his friends unbeknownst to them. While the two spheres looked at them, the purple sphere started to speak.

"Red, take care of mom. We'll be back someday," With those words, the two spheres flew up into the sky, their destination unknown. And Red and his friends enjoyed their time together.

FIN


End file.
